Displacement rarely happens on Dutch labor market: study

There is no question of displacement on the Dutch labor market between older people and young people or between highly educated and low-educated people, and displacement by migrant workers is rare, according to a study by social and cultural planning office SCP and the Dutch bureau for economic policy analysis CPB, NOS reports. 

Older people and young people have different skills and therefore complement each other on the labor market, according to the researchers. This also applies to migrant workers - they often do other work than the people who have been working in the Netherlands for a longer period and they are therefore more often supplementary than replacement. Migrant workers also sometimes do work that others don't want to do.

The researchers also found no indications that low-educated people are being displaced by higher educated people working below their level. On the contrary, the demand for highly educated workers is rising faster than the supply.

Despite this the researchers did notice some displacement at the bottom of the labor market. While on average there is often no effect, some groups may still experience a negative effect. As migrant workers are often less educated than average, they compete with low-educated people who do manual work. Fore these groups temporary negative effects can occur, especially during the first years of migrants entering the labor market. The researchers also note that there is a chance of displacement by people with a higher level of education during a recession.

The number of refugees is relatively limited and their participation is low, even after years of living in the country. As a result, displacement on the labor market by this group will remain limited, according to the researchers.