labor market

A decade after the biggest economic crisis since the 1930s hit the Netherlands, most Dutch have recovered and are satisfied with their lives. But that does not apply to a group of around 400 thousand people who are still struggling, social and cultural planning office SCP said in its report The social state of the Netherlands. The SCP looked at the state of the Netherlands in the period 2008 to 2018, NOS reports.

Dutch young people between the ages of 18 and 35 years are struggling more and more to become independent, according to a report by social and economic council SER, the main advisory body to the Dutch government and parliament. Millennials are reaching milestones like buying a house, starting a family and building up a pension later in life than previous generations, the SER said, Niewsuur reports.

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.