The UWV is worried about a growing ‘mismatch’ in the Dutch labour market
By Thomas Ansell
As has been well publicised, the Dutch population is both ageing and on the move: with more and more young people centering themselves around large cities, and increasing numbers of people retiring each year. Unfortunately, those heading off into retirement are not being replaced by new, younger workers in their vacant position; leading the Dutch employment agency (the UWV) to declare a growing mismatch in the labour market.
The Dutch economy is predicted to grow this year and next, which will only exacerbate the problem; with more jobs being created that cannot be filled.
At the moment, says the UWV, there are 18,000 vacancies in the Netherlands. This is actually higher than the number of job seekers overall, and the issue is being made worse by there being a skills gap between what employers expect from new recruits, and the skillsets of people that don’t currently have a job.
The sectors with the highest rate of empty jobs include IT, the care sector, and education. Lots of positions that require either a higher technical, or university education remain unfilled as well, says the UWV.
Apparently, key competencies such as being comfortable in client facing roles are lacking in the current selection of jobseekers in the Netherlands, perhaps posing the question as to whether the government should shake up training schemes on offer.
Another growing labour market concern is the rise of ‘zombie jobs’: roles that are likely to be replaced with digital technology, but have been preserved for the last year and a half due to the pandemic.
To find jobs in the Northern Netherlands, where the main working language is English (or German/French/Spanish) check out Make it in the North! If you’d like to find a more flexible job working in the hospitality industry, check out Horeca Groningen.
Photo by Cytonn Photography on Unsplash
