Stricter migration rules are a threat to tech companies in the Netherlands, the CEO of online retail giant Bol.com, Margaret Versteden-van Duijn said.
The CEO, herself from Australia, told Tijd she regrets that the incoming Dutch government is less open to migration.
“The uncertainty is already stopping people from coming to work for us. The new rules regarding labour migration are a threat to us because we need knowledge migrants,” she told the newspaper.
She explained that the Netherlands needs to attract foreign workers as it doesn’t produce enough people with the right technological knowledge to keep the country’s tech companies afloat.
Versteden-van Duijn said everyone is entitled to their own opinion about migration but hopes people find ways to become closer rather than drive each other further away.
She also recalled how the Netherlands accepted her as an English speaker and gave her the opportunity to learn Dutch.
