People have to work more hours to get labour market moving again, says Putters

To get the labor market moving again, it must become more attractive for people to work more, Kim Putters, chairman of the Social and Economic Council, said on the television program WNL Op Zondag.

"There are part-time employees who are quite willing to work more hours, but it is not paid enough," Putters said. “Especially for middle-income people in our country, among whom there are many part-time workers, this is not attractive because they would lose an allowance, for example”.

The chairman argued that if people think public services such as good quality care and education are important, "we should all be willing to do something about it." Putters pointed to the aging population. "That means we're going to have to work a little bit harder in the future. If we want to maintain the level of prosperity in our country, we should also all make an effort," Putters continued.

Putters also believes that it should become easier for older people to retrain or continue their education. This would prolong their employability and make it easier for them to move to another job.

According to Putters, we leave a labor potential unused, such as the elderly, people with disabilities and status holders who do not work.

In addition, the chairman believes that the administrative burden must be tackled. This can be done by "organizing the work in a smarter way" and thus making the workload manageable. "But at the same time we say: this will not solve the shortage in the labor market."