2023-10-25 03:13:49
There are currently more vacancies than job seekers. And the tightness on the labor market might become even worse in the coming years, the UWV expects. That is why we must tackle all solutions to this shortage with both hands, including the use of more migrant workers.
If we do not do this, staff shortages risk becoming even greater. “We have recently seen what this can lead to,” says Nathalie van Berkel, board member at the UWV. “There are fewer trains, there are longer waiting times in many places and the catering industry is closed more often.”
She also states that problems threaten, for example, with the energy transition and the building of hundreds of thousands of homes. “These transitions will be delayed, to say the least, if we do not solve the problems.”
The labor market is shrinking for the first time
The Netherlands has always had a growing working population. But at the end of this decade we will experience a contraction for the first time. The main cause is the aging of the population.
The good news: there are opportunities, but we must take advantage of them, says Van Berkel. One of the solutions is investing in technology. And especially in places where you don’t necessarily need people. Consider, for example, self-scan checkouts, which are already used in supermarkets.
“This allows you to work with fewer staff, while still leaving jobs, for example to help customers at the self-checkouts and to answer other questions.”
Another solution is part-timers who work longer hours. Research shows that one in eight part-time workers is open to this. “But then the preconditions must be good,” Van Berkel explains. “Think regarding good childcare and being able to work from home enough.”
She also advises companies not to focus on an applicant’s CV, but to look at skills. “Candidates sometimes do not have the right experience or training. But if they do have the right social skills, they can still receive the necessary training once they are employed.”
Labor migration is necessary but sensitive
Van Berkel is also considering the use of more labor migrants from within the EU. But that is politically sensitive. For example, last year Minister Karien van Gennip (Social Affairs) came up with a proposal to bring young people from deprived French neighborhoods to fill the gaps in the labor market in the Netherlands. This resulted in a lot of criticism, especially from right-wing parties. The SP also saw no point in it.
Yet the UWV sees this as an opportunity that the Netherlands should not miss. “We need everyone we can get on the labor market,” says Van Berkel. She also points out that the Netherlands has shortages in sectors where other EU countries have a surplus, for example in construction, retail and child care.
“You also have to see labor migration in a broader context. It is one of the possible solutions that you should look at given the shortage. Larger employers are already doing this. I will add: it is a political decision. But we can We cannot afford not to have the discussion, including regarding labor migration from outside Europe.”
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