"We even visited Daniel at his home."

Saman Groep has had an Indian engineer, Daniel, employed through WorldEmp for about a year now. The experience has been so positive that the collaboration with WorldEmp will soon be expanded.

Saman Groep, a full-service installer specializing in sustainable energy, operates six branches, employs five hundred staff members, and serves customers nationwide. This is quite impressive for a company that started as a blacksmith shop in Zierikzee in 1921. The growth of Saman Groep can be attributed in part to their innovative approach and the introduction of sustainable products such as solar panels, air conditioners, heat pumps, and home batteries. Recently, they have even extended their team to India—at least one team member: Daniel, who works exclusively for Saman Projects through WorldEmp.

Through a mutual connection, De Brouwer came into contact with WorldEmp. Although the WorldEmp concept was not immediately embraced throughout the company, Saman Groep decided to take the leap. The first engineer, Daniel, was successfully integrated into the team thanks to a carefully planned onboarding process and regular personal interactions. This is a key element of WorldEmp’s concept, where highly educated international talent is connected remotely to Dutch companies as digital labor migrants.

“We had just come out of the COVID period, where everyone was working from home. So I really couldn’t see why this wouldn’t work,” says De Brouwer.

After nearly ten months of collaboration, Martin de Brouwer, along with his project manager, decided to travel to India in September to meet Daniel and the team in person. This visit proved to be crucial for strengthening the personal connection and enhancing collaboration.

“That week in India, where we worked together in the office, was incredibly valuable for building a personal bond. We even spent a day at his home. That was quite an event.

He had kept his children home from school, and the whole family was there waiting for us,” De Brouwer recalls.

During their stay in India, they worked closely with Daniel and the team, which led to new insights and ideas for further process optimization. The personal interactions and seeing Daniel's work environment gave De Brouwer a better understanding of his capabilities and potential. This opened up new opportunities.

“My project manager, who was initially somewhat skeptical about the collaboration, even came up with ideas to shift more of the process to India. This allows us to take on many more projects here in the Netherlands with our project leaders,” says De Brouwer.

Daniel is also thriving at WorldEmp and Saman Groep. “WorldEmp also focuses on professional development and team building. For example, Daniel went out for dinner after work with his WorldEmp colleagues, facilitated by WorldEmp. It gave him a chance to connect with his colleagues in a different way than just chatting at the coffee machine,” De Brouwer explains.