About the campaign

Veolia has one of the largest vehicle fleets in the UK, collecting and recycling waste from millions of homes and businesses, but a nationwide driver shortage made it difficult to maintain critical services, including waste collections. The company had over 200 open vacancies and needed to reduce this quickly, demonstrating the benefits of being a Veolia driver such as a smaller geographic area, more work-life balance and the sociable nature of working in the community.

The campaign used Veolia’s employer brand ‘See The World As We Do’ as its starting point and content was developed with the company’s values of potential, commitment and impact in mind, and its brand personas of hard workers and everyday leaders. Channels included The Sun’s print edition, geo-targeted billboards and paid social media. There was also an internal employee referral campaign, and the flexible working hours were highlighted to attract potential female applicants.

Since the launch of the campaign, Veolia has reduced the number of vacancies by 50% from its height in the summer of 2021. There was also a 50% increase in female driver hires. The campaign attracted 12,892 applications, more than 650,000 impressions on social media, and resulted in 1,815 interviews, with 946 hires.