Labor Inspectorate chief says current highly-educated migrant rules do not work

The knowledge migrant regulation is not working like it is supposed to. The Dutch Labor Inspectorate has said that it is uncoordinated, resulting in hairdressers, cleaners, and catering employees coming into the Netherlands under the guise of being qualified for the highly-educated immigration scheme.

The Inspectorate has pleaded for more focus “so that more than 10,500 companies cannot hire ‘knowledge migrants’ as is now the case,” Inspector-General Rits de Boer wrote in an overview about 2023.

The knowledge migrant regulations make hiring people from outside the European Union relatively easy. However, based on the experiences of labor inspectors, De Boer has noticed that the scheme is used to lure "salary migrants" more often than highly-educated individuals.

The regulation has no training or knowledge requirement, but there is a salary requirement. A migrant from outside the EU must earn one and a half times the average wage.

“There is not much distinction when it comes to salary, and it makes migration to the Netherlands possible for multiple positions,” De Boer adds. “That is a legitimate societal (political) choice, but the label of ‘knowledge’ is an incorrect title in any case,” he continued.

The highest boss of the Labor Inspection pleads for the term "high-quality knowledge" to be explained in depth in the existing regulation. “By focusing on actual knowledge-intensive companies, the reach of the regulation could go from a few hundred to more than 10,000 companies,” he explains.