The Amsterdam Metropolitan Area (AMA) is becoming more competitive for businesses, with a record 139 international companies setting up office in the region in 2014.

That year, newly-arriving companies created a total of 1.308 new jobs, while growing companies already situated in the AMA were able to offer an additional 1.611 new positions.

Most new jobs in ICT

Among the companies that settled in and around Amsterdam in 2014, the most-represented sector was ICT.

Companies like Netflix and Uber, both of which established their European headquarters in Amsterdam, are taking advantage of the city’s famously sophisticated digital infrastructure.

Amsterdam's affordable, skilled labour pool

With an average hourly labour cost of 34 euros, employees are more affordable in the Netherlands than in Denmark, Belgium, Sweden and Luxembourg - the four countries where labour is most expensive, according to Eurostat.

At the same time, employees in the Netherlands score highly on the PricewaterhouseCoopers index for adaptability (willingness to embrace change and learn new skills) and the Global Talent Competitiveness Index for 2014.

An educated, multilingual workforce

The population of the AMA is highly educated, with 44 per cent having been through higher education.

Language proficiency is another advantage which comes in part through the region’s popularity among expats. A full 80 per cent of the AMA workforce speaks English, and 90 per cent speaks at least two languages.

The Netherlands leads in talent development

Companies settling down in the Netherlands are opting for the world's fourth most successful country - and the capital of Europe - for attracting and nurturing talent, according to the World Talent Index.

In 2014, the number of internationals who settled in and around Amsterdam rose by 30 per cent, to 8.000. The United States, India and the United Kingdom were the most common countries of origin among these immigrants.

Initiatives like the Expatcenter and StartUpDelta help highly-skilled migrants from other countries settle down and build professional lives in Amsterdam, enriching the regional labour pool and contributing to the growth of companies.

Tech Tool Kit, a new initiative by the Amsterdam Economic Board, is specifically designed to attract ICT talent to the region and equip new arrivals in their career paths.