Chris Wijlaars is 45 years old, from Venlo, and has been a
loyal employee at nursery Roobeek for 28 years. We had a conversation with him
so that we could put these proud employees in the spotlight.
Chris has been working at Roobeek for 28 years of which one year was an
internship. For those who are good at math quickly come to think that it means
that he started working at Roobeek when he was 17 years old. He started working
here directly from school and at the moment he’s working 32 and 36 hours, every
other week.
In those hours he practices different activities at nursery Roobeek. Cuttings,
deliveries, removing broken plants, potting, repotting, you name it! This is
also what Chris likes the most about his job, the diversity. He is always
working on something different and is able to very well anywhere else. What he
doesn’t like very much is cleaning up and sweeping, but that’s also part of the
job. Fortunately, Chris doesn’t think that anything is really difficult at
Roobeek because it’s possible to learn anything here. “Anything that I’m able
to do right now, I’ve learned at Roobeek”.
When you ask Chris if he would rather do his job inside or outside, his answer
is outside; “I love working in the fresh air”. During his time at Roobeek,
Chris learned to know a lot of new people; he sometimes even goes out with
colleagues in his free time.
A few years ago it was the 25-year anniversary of nursery Roobeek. Chris
remembers this as a nice day. They arranged a tour around the nursery and
afterwards they spend the entire day together. “I always enjoy that, being
together with my colleagues!”
For as long as possible, Chris would like to work at Roobeek. “The workload is
pleasant and I am happy here.”