A third of Dutch work for same boss 10 years or longer

On average 1 in 3 Dutch workers stay with the same employer for ten years or longer, according to figures Statistics Netherlands released on Monday. This happens especially often in the government - 58.9 percent of officials work for the government for at least 10 years.

These figures come from December 2016, according to the stats office. People working in industry, education, financial services, and construction also often stay with the same employer for 10 years or more. In all these sectors over 40 percent of employees worked for the same boss, if not in the same function, for at least 10 years.

In sectors with more seasonal work, like hospitality and agriculture, this happens less often. In the hospitality sector only 10.2 percent of employees worked at one company for over 10 years, while 28.1 percent had their job for less than a year. In the agriculture sector, 23.9 percent of employees worked for the same boss for 10 years or more. And in the culture, sport and recreation sector it was 24.1 percent.

People working in the Statistics Netherlands category 'other business services' have the shortest job durations. Only 8.6 percent worked for the same employer for 10 years or more at the end of 2016, while 35.1 percent had their job for a year or less.

Employees with long job durations are often older workers with employment contracts that don't have a set end date, according to Statistics Netherlands. Employees with short job durations are often young and more often have flexible contracts. 86 percent of people working for the government have an indefinite employment contract and their average age is higher than in other industries. In the hospitality sector, more than half of workers are under the age of 25, and 65 percent have flexible contracts. In 'other business services', a quarter of workers are under the age of 25 and 75 percent have flexible jobs.