Insights
Articles and labour market research data.
People who switch jobs mostly start on a flexible contract
A tight market should be a mobile one. Yet fewer people have changed employer since 2022, and those who do…
Dutch employers want to hire again, while unemployment rises
The hiring outlook of Dutch employers jumped to 33% for the fourth quarter, well above the European average. Unemployment is…
To start in January, sign in November
The fourth quarter is the quietest hiring quarter of the year. January adds vacancies, not candidates. With a one-month notice…
Atmosphere outweighs salary
A pleasant working atmosphere tops what Dutch workers expect from an employer. Salary comes fourth. When they leave, they also…
Security engineers are scarce. Engineers who understand why a control exists are scarcer
Most leaks start in ordinary technical work. Developers, administrators and consultants who understand ISO 27001 and SOC 2 controls are…
The salary conversation of 2027: pay up, purchasing power flat
Dutch collective wages still rise by 4%, but the pace is slowing and purchasing power stalls in 2027. A candidate…
Below €38 an hour it is an employment contract, unless you prove otherwise
The Dutch presumption of employment is law. Anyone working for less than €38 an hour is presumed to have an…
Fewer managers, more work for those who stay
Organisations cut managers to work faster and cheaper. The bill lands with those who stay: exhausted managers, lower motivation and…
Soon you name the salary before the interview, and stop asking about the old one
The Dutch pay transparency bill is before parliament. Every employer will have to name the starting salary or range before…
Fewer ICT vacancies, more experienced ICT people available
The Dutch ICT labour market has turned in three years. Vacancies fall, the number of ICT people on benefits rises,…
Experienced finance professionals are available
Dutch banks are reorganising and the financial sector is hiring less. That makes experienced people available: customer contact, compliance, analysts.…
An in-house recruiter only pays off from five to seven placements a year
Hiring your own recruiter looks cheaper than agency fees. Above a certain volume it is, below it it isn't. The…
AI tops the CEO agenda. The people who make it work are scarce
AI is the biggest challenge for CEOs this year. Half put AI investment in their top three, upskilling gets 29%.…
The Dutch work longest in Europe. A candidate of 55 still has over ten years to go
Nowhere in the EU does working life last as long as in the Netherlands: 44.0 years, against 37.5 on average.…
More than half of candidates turn down the offer
The offer is where hiring fails more and more often. A candidate who says no at the end usually had…
Unemployment in the Netherlands rarely lasts long
Being out of work is a passing state in the Netherlands. The market is cooling slightly, which makes how you…
The openings to 2035 come from departure
Growth is the exception, departure the rule. The European outlook to 2035 makes Dutch recruitment a structural task, with the…
You still hire when you do not grow
Growth is the smaller part of recruitment. Replacement demand follows from years of birth, not from order books, and it…
Departures decide which jobs stay tight
Almost every Dutch occupation is tight. Which ones stay tight is decided by who leaves, not by what grows, and…
The hours already on your payroll
The largest untapped group on the Dutch labour market already has a job. Part-timers who want more hours outnumber the…
Ageing arrived, the benefit wave did not
The pensioners came, the strain did not. Older workers stayed on, and they are now the fastest-growing source of labour…
A second job is a hiring signal
Stacking jobs is common in the Netherlands. A candidate with a second job tells you something useful, and so does…
Hybrid work is the Dutch norm
Dutch workers work from home more than anyone in Europe, mostly part of the week. For employers that changes how…
Europe's shortage lists point to surplus elsewhere
The same occupation is scarce in one European country and in surplus in another. For Dutch employers that asymmetry is…