Of the workers who left the construction sector after the economic crisis in 2008, only 15 percent returned to the sector before 2017, Statistics Netherlands reported on Thursday. Many found work in another industry. Another part retired or passed away in the meantime.
Staff shortages increased significantly in construction over the past years. In addition to material shortage, the need for construction workers is seen as the main obstacle to growth in the sector, according to the stats office.
Dutch construction trade association NVB wants all new homes built from next year to be built without a connection to the gas network. The association hopes that this will keep the playing field equal for all builders, chairman Piet Adema said to AD.
An exception should be made for houses for which contracts have already been signed, he added.
A massive amount of ammunition from the Second World War was found during construction work at a former primary school in Zwolle. The find included six boxes with around 10 thousand bullets and igniters for mines and hand grenades, NOS reports.
Construction workers discovered the ammunition while working on the sewer last week and called in Defense's explosive experts. The explosive experts called it a rare find. "It concerns French bullets of 8 millimeters that are still in their original packaging. The string of the packaging is even still around it."
A home collapsed in the Venlo city center on Wednesday afternoon. The resident, an elderly woman, managed to get out just in time. She has an angel on her shoulder, according to Venlo Mayor Antoin Scholten. "The woman still wanted to go into the house to take her coat, fortunately she did not do it", he said according to broadcaster NOS.
The Dutch government wants to start building new houses without a connection to the gas network starting this year.
The Tweede Kamer, the lower house of Dutch parliament, already agreed that new homes should not be connected to the gas network. But the government thinks that this can be started sooner than the four years planned. On Thursday the coalition wants to arrange that average new homes are built without this connection, RTL Nieuws reports.
The Tax Authority's investigation service FIOD is investigating fraud with construction invoices at Schiphol airport. Several employees and former employees of the airport and external companies working for Schiphol are suspected of involvement, NRC reports.
The Public Prosecution Service confirmed to the newspaper that an investigation was launched into "passive and active bribery" and involvement in forgery. Ten to 15 people are being questioned as suspects and witnesses, NRC writes based on anonymous sources.
There is a rapidly increasing shortage in construction staff in the Netherlands, according to benefits agency UWV. There is a major need for carpenters, masons and installation engineers, as well as many vacancies for preparatory construction staff like jop preparers, ANP reports.
By next year the UWV expects an increase of 30 thousand jobs for construction workers. An increase of another 4 thousand jobs is also expected for freelancers.
The number of bankruptcies in the Netherlands last year fell to its lowest level since 2008, Statistics Netherlands announced on Monday. In 2016 a total of 4,396 companies were declared bankrupt - nearly a fifth less than in 2015 and almost 4 thousand fewer than when bankruptcies peaked in 2013.
Last month 328 companies and institutions were declared bankrupt, 88 fewer than in November 2016.
Amsterdam is increasingly working towards a zero-waste lifestyle, or so-called circular economy. The city is presenting 23 projects aimed towards this goal. "Amsterdam will be the first city in the world to prove that a circular economy is possible and profitable", the city said in a press statement on Wednesday.
The Amterdam mayor and aldermen approved a Harbor City memorandum on Tuesday which states that at least 18 thousand homes will be built in the Dutch capital's harbors by 2040, Het Parool reports. That is nearly twice as many homes as agreed upon three years ago, according tot he newspaper.
The city can also decide at a later stage to also develop the Coen- and Vlot harbor. That would mean there is room for 40 thousand homes and that all harbor areas will be completely transformed into residential areas in the next 20 years.
Road traffic on the A15 near Rotterdam and shipping traffic on the Oude Maas will be hindered by work on the Nieuwe Botlek bridge this weekend. Workers will be doing complex restorations to the bridge that will take the entire weekend
Train travelers can expect delays throughout the weekend due to intensive construction works on the tracks around Utrecht Central Station
A pedestrian was killed by falling scaffolding in the center of The Hague on Thursday morning. The scaffolding fell from the former Ministry of Housing building, which is being renovated and hit the pedestrian who was walking past the building on Rijnstraat.
The mood among Dutch entrepreneurs was upbeat and positive at the start of the second season. Businesses in the Netherlands continue to recover from the financial crisis, including small- and medium sized enterprises.
The remnants of a 17th century Jewish ghetto was unearthed during excavations in Amsterdam earlier this month. The discovery was made by a construction crew digging a foundation for a housing complex and hotel on Valkenburgerstraat, just north of an Esnoga.
The construction of the Noord-Zuid subway line in Amsterdam caused a few cracks in the facade of the Amsterdam Central Station, a spokesperson for the Amsterdam municipality confirmed to Het Parool.
A spirit of celebration was on display at the newly-completed Den Haag Centraal train station on Monday. The station, capable of handling 270,000 passengers daily, officially re-opened after several years of construction work.
Benefits agency UWV expects that the Dutch labor market will continue to recover in 2016, with 102 extra jobs created this year. If the self-employment jobs are included, the growth in jobs is even higher at 129 thousand. In 2015 a total of 56 thousand jobs were created
The two parties in the ruling coalition agreed to shut down the Binnenhof parliament complex for over five years in order to conduct a complete overhaul of the buildings there. The renovations of the buildings, including the 13th century Ridderzaal, is expected to cost between 500 and 600 million euros.
Thousands of train travelers are having a tough morning rush hour on Tuesday due to several train delays and over crowded trains.
Funding has been rounded out and the construction of the new sea lock, to be the largest sea lock in the world, at the IJmuiden can begin. The project, including construction and maintenance, will cost about 500 million euros.
After the Dutch cabinet gave its approval to a controversial half-billion euro plan to shut parliamentary buildings for 5.5 years for renovations, representatives of shopkeepers, hotel and catering, and museums all sounded alarm bells. Construction work could begin in 2020 effectively shutting down the Binnenhof parliament sqare.
Gas firm NAM is giving the city of Groningen 68 million euros to make the new cultural center, the Groninger Forum, earthquake resistant. The company and the city had previously already broadly agreed on compensation, but the final deal was signed on Wednesday
Builders made a strange discovery while digging at the construction site of a Vredenburg car park in Utrecht - an old bone of a large mammal. The bone is estimated to be around 11 thousand years old and is believed to be the rib bone of a red deer.
