Most Dutch entrepreneurs struggling with staff shortages

Over 75 percent of entrepreneurs in the Netherlands struggled with staff shortages at the start of the third quarter. More than 40 percent said that staffing problems were the main obstacle in their business operations, according to a joint study by Statistics Netherlands (CBS), the Chamber of Commerce, and the employers’ organizations EIB, MKB-Nederland, and VNO-NCW.

While staff shortages are still very high, they were slightly lower than last year, when 84 percent of entrepreneurs had to deal with it. Entrepreneurs in the hotel and catering industry, business services, and transport and storage most often said staff shortages were the main obstacles in their business.

Over a third (36 percent) of entrepreneurs said that staff shortages increased the workload of their existing employees. Other often-mentioned consequences were higher labor costs (15 percent) and having to hire less suitable personnel (11 percent). A higher workload was most common in the retail sector and higher labor costs in the hotel and catering industry.

Compared to a year ago, the share of entrepreneurs struggling with staff shortages decreased the most in agriculture, forestry and fisheries, wholesale and brokerage, and information and communication. In mineral extraction and the retail sector, more entrepreneurs reported having too few staff and no luck recruiting more.

Companies experience various obstacles when looking for personnel. The biggest problem, affecting over 25 percent of entrepreneurs, is the limited number of job seekers. Earlier this month, CBS reported that there were 122 open vacancies for every 100 unemployed people in the Netherlands. Sixteen percent of entrepreneurs said they struggled to find qualified people - most often in the car trade and repair industry. And 11 percent said that potential workers have higher demands than they are willing or able to pay.