Selective labor migration can help with staff shortages, advice council says

Labor migration is not necessarily a good solution to the staff shortages in the Netherlands, the Migration Advisory Council said in a report. But, more selective labor migration “focused on specific knowledge and skills” could provide a solution to shortages in key sectors. It would be “wise” for the government to consider a stronger management role, said chairman Monique Kremer.

The current labor migration policy is “very much based on the wishes of employers,” said Kremer. It would be good if the government exerted more control. She acknowledged that this is not always possible. For example, you cannot simply ignore the free movement of people in the European Union (EU). It is also an “important European achievement.” But, the government also has ways to manage labor migration in other policy areas. For example, by adjusting the labor market policy.

Researcher Paul de Beer has been working for the council as an “added expert” since the start of this year. He added that it is easy for employers to employ migrant workers for work that Dutch people are reluctant to do because they feel it doesn’t reward enough. Quick access to migrant workers from Eastern Europe, for example, “removes the incentive to improve working conditions” and increases wages.

In addition to labor migration's role in solving personnel shortages in key sectors, the Migration Advisory Council looked at its effects on the consequences of an aging population. More and more people are retiring, while relatively fewer people are working. In order to maintain the ratio between the number of retirees and the number of workers (the “gray pressure”) at the current level through labor migration, at least 150,000 additional migrant workers would have to come to the Netherlands every year. In total, that would amount to 3 million people in 2040.

“The anticipated increase in the state pension age to 69 years around 2050 would have a comparable effect on the gray pressure as the annual arrival of 50,000 additional labor migrants,” according to the Advisory Council. But both measures are necessary if the government wants to keep costs limited. According to De Beer, the increase in gray pressure is so great “that you can hardly solve it with only one of those instruments.”

The Council’s exploration does not contain any recommendations about what politicians should do, but it can provide a basis for policy, which could be used in the upcoming Cabinet formation. During the election campaigns, labor migration was an important theme as part of the broad debate on migration.