Netherlands faced with growing shortage in construction workers: report

There is a rapidly increasing shortage in construction staff in the Netherlands, according to benefits agency UWV. There is a major need for carpenters, masons and installation engineers, as well as many vacancies for preparatory construction staff like jop preparers, ANP reports.

By next year the UWV expects an increase of 30 thousand jobs for construction workers. An increase of another 4 thousand jobs is also expected for freelancers.

According to the UWV, the construction industry faces a problem of aging workers. During the economic crisis, very few internships were offered. Which means that there are now relatively few construction workers under the age of 25.

Branch association Bouwend Nederland will focus on recruiting some 40 thousand young people in construction over the next five years. According to chairman Maxime Verhagen, the sector is more attractive now that the financial crisis is over and home building is picking up again. "Now that the crisis has really disappeared, we can even give job guarantee: there is a lot to be built in the Netherlands again. That is not a wish or forecast, but a fact."