CEO of Randstad temp agency thinks the labor migration debates are "polarized"

The political discussions in The Hague around limiting labor migration are "polarized," in the opinion of CEO Jeroen Tiel of the Dutch branch of temporary employment group Randstad. He states that there is a significant shortage in the labor market, especially in technology and healthcare, and that immigrants are desperately needed to tackle the challenges. It is "beyond any doubt" that we need migrant workers in the Netherlands, he said.

In The Hague, there will be votes on restricting labor and knowledge migrants. The election winners, PVV and NSC, had repeatedly called for labor migration levels to drop in their election campaigns.

"The current discussions are polarizing as labor and knowledge migrants are being linked to regular migrants. A discussion is forming that is not right, as we need migrants in certain sectors. We would really like to see labor migration come out of the corner of polarization."

Tiel argues that a long-term vision is needed for the challenges in the labor market. "We need specialist knowledge and migrants that provide added value. We need to be aiming for the future. We're screwed if we're not open to that. That would be my message."

His opinion is that international cooperation should be stimulated to be as resilient and agile in the future as possible and that migrant workers contribute to the revenue model of the economy. "That needs to stay good, to finance the energy transition, for example. A good business climate for labor and knowledge migrants is therefore important."

The CEO points to the warning from chip machine maker ASML. The company recently stated they might move portions of their operations to another country if there are insufficient workers to be found in the Netherlands. "We are hearing from our business relations that there are concerns about these types of things. Look at ASML. Universities are also hearing the worries from companies about this discussion. It is obvious what is going on here."

Tiel said that part of the problem can be solved by looking at unused workers' potential, like retirees, who are interested in extending their work life with a part-time function after retirement. "How do we activate and motivate that unused labor potential? But it is not enough to meet all the challenges. It is part of the solution, but not the answer to the question."