Willemen Group halts all yards in fight against coronavirus

To help cope with the corona crisis affecting our country, the Willemen Groep management has decided to proceed with a controlled shutdown of all its shipyards. "The corona virus also threatens to make a lot of our employees sick. In order to reduce that risk as much as possible and to be one step ahead of the chaos, we have decided to shut down all our shipyards in a controlled way right now," says CEO Tom Willemen.  

All Willemen Groep construction sites will be shut down today or tomorrow at the latest. Only those who are needed to guarantee the safety of the yards and the signaling of the infra yards will be allowed to continue working. Permanence will also be provided in case of unforeseen circumstances. All construction and road workers will remain at home as of Wednesday at the latest.

"With this measure, we want to prevent our employees from getting sick and/or spreading the virus further. We feel it is our duty to protect people who have no choice but to work closely together (together in the work van, eating together in the site hut, passing materials to each other, etc.). The most important rule now is to keep your distance, but building is something you always do together," said Tom Willemen.

For Willemen Group's more than a thousand white-collar workers, telecommuting is becoming the norm. "We ask everyone who does not absolutely have to be in the office to take those things home (files, plans, computer, screen and other accessories) to continue working from home for the next week or weeks. Working from home gives people more flexibility to provide childcare for their children or care for the elderly who need help. Those things take priority for now."

"We realize that these measures are drastic," Tom Willemen continued. "But actually, they anticipate something that will eventually be unavoidable to deal with this crisis. Planning and a well-prepared organization are two important qualities of a good contractor. Therefore, we believe that it is better to proceed ourselves to a temporary shutdown of our yards. By taking these measures in a controlled manner now, we avoid chaos when they are imposed on us. The health of our employees and our construction partners always comes first."