65% of Dutch employees now work in offices, Fridays least popular
Dutch employees are increasingly returning to offices in 2025, though Fridays remain the least popular day for commuting, according to data from mobility platforms Shuttel and Reisbalans obtained by De Volkskrant.
Rebalance, with 300,000 users, found that employees spent an average of 65 percent of their work time in the office this year—roughly 3.2 days per week—up 6.2 percentage points from last year.
Shuttle, with 250,000 users, reported that full-time employees now work in the office an average of 1.2 days more than in 2024, compared with about three days at home immediately after the pandemic.
Eurostat statistics show the Netherlands leads Europe in remote work, particularly in finance, business services, and government. A 2024 study by the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI) described the pandemic as an “earthquake” for working habits: in 2019, only one in ten employees ever worked from home, while after the pandemic, nearly half did.
Despite the gradual return to offices, Fridays remain slow: just over half of employees commute to work, reflecting the popularity of four-day workweeks and flexible schedules.
Reisbalans noted the emergence of a “three-day Tuesday-Wednesday-Thursday office week,” with many employees working from home on Mondays. Tuesday and Wednesday are now the busiest commuting days.
The data also show a significant increase in cycling to work, reportedly likely influenced by the government’s reimbursement of 21 euro cents per kilometer, up from 7 cents before October 2024. Cycling rose across all seasons, with 90 percent of employees in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, and Utrecht using bikes.
Car use has also increased, often replacing public transport, especially in cities. Many commuters combine car travel with the final leg on a bike or shared bike service.
