While both 2022 and 2021 saw the Netherlands face a severe shortage of workers across various sectors and industries, Randstad - a Dutch recruitment agency - reports that employers are now recruiting less staff, suggesting that the national labour crisis is coming to an end.
Since the second half of 2021, those looking for jobs in the Netherlands have generally been in a pretty good position, with the number of open positions rising to record highs in 2022. This, in turn, had knock-on effects on salaries and workers' contracts, as candidates and employees were able to negotiate more preferable conditions.
This summer, however, has apparently marked a turning point on the Dutch labour market, with Randstad reporting that it has seen a fall in demand for new workers. According to NOS, the recruitment company has seen its turnover fall for two consecutive quarters, after having reached record highs in 2022 as a result of the high demand for new staff.
"The market trends we saw in the second quarter continued at the beginning of July," NU quotes chief Sander van ‘t Noordende as saying in the company’s quarterly report. The Randstad boss was reportedly unsurprised by the latest figures, citing the “challenging conditions” of the current market - namely high inflation and rising salaries - as a reason for this continued drop in profits.
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