Boskalis: Harsh Dutch policies towards foreign labor driving move to UAE; Record profits

Dredging company Boskalis is establishing part of its headquarters in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, the company announced with its annual figures on Thursday. The company booked a profit of 604 million euros in 2023, an increase of nearly 150 percent compared to the year before.

Over 300 Boskalis employees already work in the UAE. The dredging company needs the branch in Abu Dhabi because Dutch politicians plan to limit the number of knowledge immigrants coming to the Netherlands, CEO Peter Berdowski said to the Telegraaf. The company will decide on whether to completely relocate there later this year.

The headquarters in Abu Dabi places Boskalis closer to the “endless supply of talent” from Asia. “In Abu Dhabi, we get a visa for staff within a few weeks. In the Netherlands, it takes two years, if we even succeed,” Berdowski told the newspaper. It is not yet clear whether any employees from the Netherlands will be moved to Abu Dhabi.

In its annual report, the company said its Supervisory Board visited the Abu Dhabi office in September 2023, with an eye towards growing and developing the office there. That was the same month that more highly skilled immigrants expressed concerns over their future as election rhetoric ramped up, calling for strict limits to recruitment abroad and English-language courses in Dutch universities.

“Maximizing our ability to attract and retain the skills we need in a constrained labor market” was already considered one of the company’s main challenges at that point, as business was booming. Focusing on “the acquisition and retention of more sophisticated skill sets and strategic competencies - and in greater numbers,” the company started to look more towards the United Arab Emirates and its office in Abu Dhabi. “The hub is built on the Boskalis culture, focusing on entrepreneurship and individual development, and already hosts several key departments, including Legal, ICT, Tendering and Engineering, Fleet Management, Financial Shared Services, and our Travel Desk.”

Boskalis companies represent the equivalent of 11,650 full-time workers, including about 7,950 positions at businesses where the company owns a majority of shares. The company added 500 full-time jobs in the past year, with its workers coming from 90 different nationalities.

The departure of Boskalis would be a huge blow to the Netherlands, which has ties to the company stretching back more than 100 years. Boskalis net profit soared from 241 million euros in 2022 to 604 million euros in 2023.

Its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization jumped by two-thirds to 1.02 billion euros. Total revenue swelled by 20 percent to 4.28 billion euros, up from 3.58 billion euros. Boskalis maintains a fleet of over 600 vessels.

The company is now fully owned by Dutch private equity firm HAL Investments, which took Boskalis off the Euronext Amsterdam exchange in November 2022 by acquiring all outstanding shares. At the time, the company’s market capitalization was estimated at over 4.24 billion euros.

In the annual report, Berdowski said, “2023 was a particularly successful year for Boskalis, in which we broke many records.” Paying attention to the workforce, he added, “It is great to see that all parts of the business contributed to these impressive figures. All our employees deserve a big compliment for the dedication, professionalism, and teamwork with which we were able to achieve these successes.”

Last year, Boskalis threatened to leave the Netherlands due to the Responsible and Sustainable International Business Act. This initiative law, which hasn’t yet been adopted by parliament, states that companies must ensure that their activities abroad don’t have negative consequences for human rights, labor rights, and the environment.

“Legal certainty is the most important thing for us as a globally operating company. But when I look back on the past year, legal certainty has become even more uncertain for companies in the Netherlands,” Berdowski told the Telegraaf on Thursday.

Unilever and Shell previously moved their headquarters from the Netherlands to the United Kingdom. Chip machine manufacturer ASML said earlier this year that it would start investing abroad if it can no longer recruit knowledge workers to the Netherlands.

“The consequences of limiting labor migration are major,” ASML CEO Peter Wennink said. “We need those people to innovate further. If we can’t get those people here, we’ll go to a place where we can grow. Be careful because you will soon get exactly what you wish for.”

On Wednesday, the Telegraaf reported that the Dutch government was scrambling behind the scenes to keep ASML in the Netherlands. Outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte met with Wennink on Wednesday. Shortly before that meeting, five out of six parliamentarians invited to an invitation-only conference about the attractiveness of the Netherlands for tech start-ups canceled at the last minute.

"I am annoyed for the simple reason that this gathering is also important for the politicians. Six MPs were invited, but five of them canceled this morning. This is about the future earning capacity of the Netherlands," Wennink said. He considered the no-shows an illustration of the lack of interest in growing and keeping innovative companies.