Worker shortage worst in Amsterdam as Dutch labour crisis continues

According to figures published by the Employee Insurance Agency (UWV), the job market in Amsterdam remains exceedingly tight, in spite of the rising rate of unemployment in the area. 

60.000 jobs available in Amsterdam by mid-2022

In their annual report about the labour market in the greater Amsterdam area, the UWV found that the job market in the Dutch capital is tighter than anywhere else in the country. Businesses hoping to recruit workers in Amsterdam face an exceptionally tricky market, with the number of job vacancies vastly outnumbering the number of people looking for work. 

According to the UWV, by mid-2022, there were 60.000 jobs available in and around Amsterdam - three times as many as in 2016, when the Dutch job market was also labelled as tight by the UWV. The vacancies are spread across a number of different sectors and industries, with the fewest number of jobs available for creative, linguistic, and management positions.

Rising unemployment isn't enough to combat high number of vacancies

While Amsterdam has the highest number of jobs available, it also has the highest number of unemployed people; 90.500 people in the area receive unemployment benefits and so are officially registered as looking for work.

In spite of this, however, the UWV notes that the high unemployment rate isn’t enough to offset the high number of vacancies. According to the agency, many of those who are registered as unemployed aren’t able to fill the positions available as they’re already enrolled in an educational course, are looking after family, or are physically unable to work. 

With this in mind, the UWV calculates that there are only around 25.000 potential employees, leaving the remaining 35.000 vacancies in the region unfilled. While the number of unfilled jobs in the Netherlands is expected to decrease by 7 percent in 2023, the UWV expects that the current labour shortage will continue in various sectors in the new year.