Tightness on Dutch labor market again shattering records
With a further increase in unfilled vacancies and a further decrease in the number of unemployed, the Dutch labor market grew even tighter in the second quarter. The labor market figures broke multiple records last quarter, Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reported on Wednesday.
The number of unfilled vacancies increased by 16 thousand to a record 476 thousand vacancies. “This is the eighth consecutive quarter that the number of vacancies has increased. Vacancies have more than doubled in two years,” CBS said.
The number of unemployed people fell by 11,000 in the second quarter. A total of 327,000 people were unemployed, or 3.3 percent of the labor force. That is the lowest level since CBS started recording quarterly unemployment figures in 2003. However, CBS did note a slight increase in unemployment in May and June.
The decrease in unemployment combined with more vacancies increased the tension in the Dutch labor market even further. In the first quarter, there were still 133 vacancies per 100 unemployed persons. In the second quarter that rose to 143 vacancies per 100 unemployed. A new record.
The number of jobs also increased again, by 94 thousand to 11,395,000 - a new record. The increase was visible in both self-employed and employee jobs.
The tightness in the labor market is also more noticeable to companies facing significant staff shortages. At the start of the third quarter of this year, 38 percent of companies said staff shortages were their main problem. At the beginning of 2021, that was 10 percent.
