labor market

Refugees in the Netherlands are still struggling to find work. Only a quarter of asylum seekers who came to the Netherlands in 2014 now have a job, according to a new report by social-economic council SER. Business incubator Refugees Forward is trying to help by giving refugees the training they need to launch their own successful businesses.

The Dutch economy, measured by gross domestic product, grew by 2.7 percent last year. That is somewhat less growth than in 2017, when the highest economic growth since the financial crisis was achieved, Statistics Netherlands reported on Monday.

As in previous years, the economic growth in 2018 was largely due to increased employment. Household consumption contributed most to the economic growth last year. Investments in fixed assets also made a larger contribution. In previous years, foreign trade was the driving force behind the economic growth.

As the Dutch economy continues to improve, more permanent jobs will be offered in the Netherlands and contract wages at companies will continue to rise, according to Dutch central bank De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), NU.nl reports.

The number of permanent jobs is already increasing, said Job Swank, director of financial stability at DNB. This year, contract wages are expected to rise by 2.1 percent, after they already rose 1.5 percent in 2018. For 2019 and 2020 the bank expects wage increases of 2.6 and 3 percent respectively. 

There is no question of displacement on the Dutch labor market between older people and young people or between highly educated and low-educated people, and displacement by migrant workers is rare, according to a study by social and cultural planning office SCP and the Dutch bureau for economic policy analysis CPB, NOS reports. 

The disadvantaged position women have on the Dutch labor market costs the Netherlands billions of euros, according to a study done by consultancy firm McKinsey. If the Dutch labor market was as gender-equal as the best performing neighboring countries, the Dutch economy would get a 114 billion euros boost. If the labor market was totally gender-equal, that would generate 221 billion euros, Financieele Dagblad and NOS report.

Shortages on the Dutch labor market are only increasing, according to a report published by benefits agency UWV on Tuesday. Currently one in five employers experience production issues due to staff shortages. In sectors like temporary employment, call centers, IT services, architects, and the metal- and technology industry, this increases to one in three employers, ANP reports.

In the fourth quarter of 2017 the number of jobs in the Netherlands increased by 57 thousand, the number of vacancies rose by 14 thousand and the number of unemployed people in the country decreased by 29 thousand. These are the strongest labor figures the Netherlands has seen since the financial crisis, Statistics Netherlands reported on Wednesday based on the latest quarterly figures on the labor market.

Employers in technology, healthcare and education will have an increasingly difficult task filling vacancies in the coming years, according to the University of Maastricht's research center for education and labor market RAO. Over the next five years, the number of jobs in the Netherlands is expected to grow by 520 thousand, with the largest number of vacancies expected to be in technology and healthcare, according to the researchers, NOS reports.

The unemployment rate among people with a non-Western background in the Netherlands decreased in 2016, according to Statistics Netherlands. Last year unemployment in this group was 13.2 percent, compared to 16.5 percent in 2014. 

Statistics Netherlands also noted that unemployment is higher among the second generation of non-Western immigrants than the first generation. The unemployment rate for second generation immigrants, who were born in the Netherlands, was 14.3 percent last year, compared to 12.5 percent for first generation immigrants.

The Netherlands' labor market is doing fantastically - unemployment continues to fall, just like unemployment benefits, and vacancies are on the rise. But the wages in the country are lagging behind the economic recovery and that must change, Christine Lagarde, director of the International Monetary Fund, said in Luxembourg on Thursday, Metro reports.

Last year the Dutch labor market was recovered from the economic crisis in many aspects, though labor participation was still lower than in 2008 before the outbreak of the crisis, according to figures Statistics Netherlands released on Wednesday. In 2016 the number of unemployed people was still 1.5 times higher than in 2008, the number of people in long-term unemployment was over twice as high.