ANP
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News from the NOS•today, 20:00
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Carlotta Klein
economics editor
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Carlotta Klein
economics editor
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The scarcity of the labor market is one of the greatest challenges of our time. Two weeks ago we have published the causes, now it is time for solutions. These require radically different choices, say labor market professor Ton Wilthagen and labor market professor Hafid Ballafkih. “We want to keep everything as it is, but no one is allowed to participate and we also want to grow. It’s not possible,” says Ballafkih.
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1. More work
Summoning extra people with a cylinder is difficult. It is easier for people who are already working to work harder. In the Netherlands, many people work part-time, which means we have a relatively low job participation rate.
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What if people don’t feel like it? Wilthagen: “It doesn’t work if people work part-time, but they have full-time expectations from society. So we have to give up in terms of broad prosperity and not complain when schools close.”
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“Because of the allowances and taxes, it’s not always the case that if you work harder, you earn even more,” says Wilthagen. According to him, this could be done differently, for example, with a full-time bonus – extra money if you work full-time. Another possibility is to lower the income tax, so that working longer hours is more rewarding. “This can be offset with an additional wealth tax.”
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Women work more often part-time, but they also work more unpaid hours (see figure) in home and informal care. A solution that has been around for a long time is (almost) make childcare free. A great solution, says Wilthagen, if it had been introduced 20 years ago. “There are huge shortages in childcare, so now I see it grim.”
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NAS / Damage to Kersten
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Another variant: men have to do more around the house. “Most of these responsibilities still lie with women. Many men do not realize that this has enormous effects on women’s participation in the labor market.”
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Older people can also work more. But some employers don’t dare to hire people over 55, because in the event of illness you have to continue paying for two years. Older workers are also often more expensive. Long-term unemployment among the over 55s is therefore relatively high (see figure).
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NAS / Damage to Kersten
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2. Involve excluded groups
“We think we are a tolerant and social country, but there is relatively a lot of discrimination on the labor market here,” says Wilthagen. It is mainly about people with work disabilitiesa migratory background, the elderly and assisted persons. According to Ballafkih, gender and sexual orientation matter less than before.
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This leads to untapped job potential, says Wilthagen, and the government can do something about it by applying and fining. But according to Ballafkih, coercion actually backfires. “It has to come intrinsically from the employer. But it goes further. Behind there is an entire social system of exclusion, which begins with stereotypes and image formation.”
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Wilthagen sees a concrete solution in the anonymous application, but according to Ballafkih this makes little difference, because discrimination can still occur during the last interview. Another option is open hiring. In the event of a vacancy, the next person on the waiting list is automatically hired.
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And there is another group that can be involved: asylum seekers. Last week it turns out that many Ukrainian refugees are already working, not least because they do not need a permit and can start working immediately. Other asylum seekers can only work with a special permit for a few weeks a year.
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3. Better pay and more
According to Wilthagen, there is more work to be done to make the labor market more attractive: higher wages, permanent contracts, better shifts, further training, career opportunities, fewer bureaucratic tasks, less pressure at work and good working conditions. work.
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And social professions are undervalued, Ballafkih believes. What he believes may play a role in the revaluation of those professions is a more equal distribution of wealth: “If you can go on vacation with any job or find yourself a decent home, it doesn’t matter if you’re facing a class or Zuidas jobs. Now you give up. a lot of living comfort if you opt for a social profession “.
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The evolution of the labor income ratio (percentage of national income that goes to work):
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NAS / Damage to Kersten
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4. Get people to the right place
Retraining people as a solution to deficiency doesn’t work, says Ballafkih, because there is a shortage almost everywhere. You propose more radical choices, such as the reduction or extinction of professions. “There are jobs where we don’t need much, think life coaches, YouTubers or consultants. You can say that as long as there is demand, you have to offer them. But we don’t have that luxury anymore, the government has to make choices, but it won’t be all. height of that discussion “.
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Wilthagen also believes the government should take control. “Choose a training course for solar panel installers for free or organize student debt differently to stimulate young people. Abolish numerus fixus (lottery) for important professions and not overcrowded with international students who leave “.
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The re-evaluation of practical training also plays a role in this. Wilthagen: “For a long time, the government focused on a knowledge economy, in which a judgment distinction was made between the highly educated and the low-skilled. As a result, it seemed that practically educated people were not important, but the opposite is true “.
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NOS / Stijn Postmus
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NOS / Stijn Postmus
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NOS / Stijn Postmus
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5. Automation
Labor productivity is growing not anymore like before. Increasing work productivity means doing more work with the same people. Automation can help with this, but it’s not possible in all areas. Certainly not in a service economy like the Netherlands.
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Where technological aids can help, for example, is with plasterers. They can use some kind of armor, as a support for the arms:
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Marcel hopes to continue grouting for longer with his “exoskeleton”
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6. Migrant workers
Can’t the tension simply be resolved with more people? Not if we don’t have accommodation for them, says Wilthagen. “The Netherlands wants workers, but they get people. If we can’t treat them well, we shouldn’t do it.”
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There is debate in Europe to make it easier to grant a work permit to people outside the EU, but this is the point of view of the Minister of Social Affairs Van Gennip do not sit down. According to her, the problems related to poor working and housing conditions must be solved first of all.
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A special choice, according to Ballafkih. “The government wants to continue exactly the same level and economic growth as well, but not a strategic labor migration policy. In the Netherlands, we have to get rid of the negative image of the seasonal strawberry picker, which we consider second-class extra hands. We really need them, all year round, and we should treat them as full-fledged people. “
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However, the problem doesn’t just go away with extra people, Wilthagen thinks: “You can’t just put someone in front of a class without knowing our language. You have to search specifically.”
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