Foreign workers are critically important to top Dutch construction firms, meat industry

The construction industry needs foreign workers to finish projects, says the CEO of construction group BAM Ruud Joosten. He notices that the willingness of foreigners to come to the Netherlands to work has decreased lately. The Netherlands must remain attractive for migrant laborers to work in the Netherlands, according to the COV, which represents organizations in the meat sector.

BAM CEO Joosten was unable to say to what extent recent developments will affect his business. "In the last few decades, we have seen many people from Eastern Europe come to the Netherlands to work. People from Poland, for example. But their country has developed in the last few years, resulting in a lower sense of urgency for Poles to work elsewhere. I have noticed this development," he said. "And, of course, it is a big step to work abroad," the BAM executive added.

This observation was also demonstrated in the results of research released on Thursday by the Intelligence Group. The market researcher claims that the Netherlands is becoming less and less attractive for migrant labor, highly-skilled immigrants, and highly-educated people. At the same time, several parties involved in recent talks to form a new Cabinet want to lower the number of foreign workers, including the PVV and NSC.

The extent to which these plans become a reality will largely depend on the parties that join the next Cabinet, the form of that Cabinet, and the terms of any coalition agreement that comes out of ongoing negotiations. Joosten said that he has yet to consider that or how extensively these plans would impact BAM's activities.

The CEO could also not say how many foreign workers they have working for the company. There are no confirmed numbers about this. BAM also works with many subcontractors who, in turn, work with migrant workers. "There are also large numbers there," says Joosten.

Retaining migrant workers is a point of attention for the meat sector

“Without these people it will be very difficult,” a spokesperson for the COV said when asked about how limits on foreign labor could affect the meat industry in the Netherlands. “We do not currently believe that the Netherlands is unattractive for migrant workers,” the spokesperson said.

“But it is a point of attention. We also see that there is a movement going on, and we are keeping a close eye on what that means. It is very important that our country remains attractive for migrant workers.”

According to the COV, approximately 9,000 international employees work in Dutch slaughterhouses. Migrant workers often do less-skilled labor, taking jobs which are not easily filled by Dutch workers, the organization said. Because of that difficulty, migrant workers are "of particular value" and extremely important to the industry.