New figures shared by Statistics Netherlands (CBS) have confirmed that the Dutch labour crisis has continued into the second quarter of 2023: in the spring of this year, there were an average of 122 job vacancies for every 100 unemployed people. 

The Netherlands still facing a shortage of workers

In spite of reports from Dutch recruitment agencies revealing that employers in the Netherlands were recruiting fewer staff, suggesting that the national labour crisis was coming to an end, the most recent figures from CBS show that the country continues to face a significant shortage of workers across various sectors. 

Between the months of April and June, there were an average of 122 job vacancies for every 100 people that were looking for work. This matches the figures from not only the first quarter of this year, but also the fourth quarter of 2022, and proves that the Dutch job market remains tight in 2023. 

The overall vacancy rate in the Netherlands also remains unchanged; in the second quarter, there were 49 unfilled positions for every 1.000 employee jobs. The industries with the highest vacancy rates were hospitality (76 per 1.000) and construction (73), while education had the lowest (25).

Dutch unemployment rate falling in 2023

While the ratio of jobs to unemployed people remains unchanged, CBS notes that the total number of unfilled vacancies fell by 10.000 between the end of March and the end of June. The majority of jobs available were in the trade sector (87.000), business services (71.000) and healthcare (65.000), which together accounted for half of all the job vacancies. 

The total number of jobs in the Netherlands, however, increased by around 0,1 percent in the second quarter, to over 11,5 million. This figure includes all part-time and full-time positions, as well as self-employed people. This marks the 12th consecutive quarter that the number of jobs has increased.

Unemployment continues to fall in the Netherlands, dropping from 3,6 percent in the first quarter to 3,5 percent at the end of June. Interestingly, while more people are in work, CBS reports that workers and entrepreneurs worked fewer hours in the second quarter than in the first quarter of this year.

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