According to Indeed, the self-proclaimed biggest job site in the country, workers are often not required to speak or understand the Dutch language for jobs in the Netherlands. Other European countries are more likely to demand that job candidates know the local language.
The job platform has calculated that approximately 8 percent of job vacancies on its Netherlands site do not require job seekers to have proficiency in Dutch. The type of jobs where Dutch is often not called for include cleaning, hospitality and logistics.
To a lesser extent, candidates in sectors such as beauty and wellness and transport are also not likely to need Dutch to get work. For example, GVB in Amsterdam launched a campaign looking for foreign bus drivers earlier this year, where applicants did not need to have prior knowledge of the Dutch language. On the other hand, Dutch is more often necessary for vacancies for work in HR, IT helpdesks and daycare centres.
According to Indeed Benelux director Stan Snijders, worker shortages in many sectors mean that employers in the Netherlands are more open to hiring international workers who are not fluent in Dutch, as this makes it “easier to fill those vacancies”.
“The Dutch labour market is particularly internationally oriented,” stated Snijders. “In sectors such as cleaning and logistics, we see that employers are increasingly willing to hire employees with a non-Dutch background, even if they do not speak Dutch.”
Compared with other countries where Indeed is present, the Netherlands offers more job roles without the local language as a prerequisite. For instance, in Spain 6 percent of vacancies do not require Spanish. 4 percent of jobs in France and Italy do not require French or Italian, and in the United Kingdom and Germany, the equivalent is around 3 percent.
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