Netherlands less attractive to expats; More businesses consider leaving

The Netherlands is quickly becoming less attractive for knowledge and labor migrants from Europe, reports market researcher Intelligence Group. Our country is increasingly the second choice for them, and over nine out of ten expats and migrant workers do not even consider coming to work in the Netherlands. More and more entrepreneurs are also considering leaving the Netherlands, according to business organizations VNO-NCW and MKB Nederland.

According to the Intelligence Group researchers, the “unattractive” view on labor migration is one of the reasons why European labor and knowledge migrants are choosing the Netherlands less and less often. “Politics, the housing market, rogue employment agencies, and ever-increasing intolerance have been doing a lot of damage to the image of the Netherlands for decades,” summarized director Geert-Jan Waasdorp. According to him, the Netherlands mainly depends on the regions of Amsterdam and Eindhoven and companies like the chip machine maker ASML and hotel booking site Booking.com.

Intelligence Group says it has been conducting research since 2007 into where European expats and migrant workers want to go. In those years, things did not look as bad for the Netherlands as they do now, said Waasdorp. “And that does not yet include the Wilders effect, but that impact will be greater than the impact of Fortuyn over 20 years ago.”

The competition between the Netherlands and other countries is also increasing, according to the researchers, Relatively speaking, Polish people most often prefer the Netherlands; 18 percent of migrants from this country would prefer to work in the Netherlands. However, their first choices are Germany (45 percent) and England (22 percent), according to the researchers, who surveyed over 250,000 people in Europe.

Some experts have stressed the Netherlands’ need for knowledge and labor migrants. For example, Klaas Knot, the president of De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), recently said in the TV program Buitenhof that knowledge migrants add value to the Dutch economy. CEO Jeroen Tiel of the Dutch branch of temporary employment group Randstad said on Tuesday that it is “beyond doubt” that we need migrant workers. He said that there is a major shortage in the labor market, especially in technology and healthcare, and migrants are desperately needed to tackle the challenges.

Businesses also pessimistic

More and more entrepreneurs are also considering leaving the Netherlands, according to VNO-NCW and MKB-Nederland. Last year, almost one in eight thought about leaving, now, it is almost one in five. The reason is the business climate in our country, which many entrepreneurs feel has deteriorated over the past year.

The figures emerge from an annual survey of the business climate in the Netherlands, which VNO-NCW and MKB-Nederland conducted among over 1,600 entrepreneurs. Almost half of them no longer see the Netherlands as an attractive country to do business. Last year, that was still 28 percent of entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneurs seem mainly concerned about the lack of government stability. Almost 60 percent have no confidence that the election results will lead to a stable Cabinet. Entrepreneurs are also concerned about the increasing regulatory burden, staff shortages, and taxes.

But increasing tensions in the Netherlands and beyond also play a role. Over seven in ten entrepreneurs said that they see the increasing polarization in society as a threat to the business climate. Last year, it was 67 percent.

Furthermore, approximately a quarter of entrepreneurs have now decided not to invest in the next twelve months. VNO-NCW and MKB-Nederland have been seeing a decline in investments for some time, something about which the organizations expressed their concerns in a letter to parliament last month. “Investments by companies are the driving force behind our earning capacity, and it is precisely those investments that we see coming to a standstill,” VNO-NCW and MKB-Nederland wrote at the time.