In the first three months of this year, unemployment fell further, and tensions in the labor market increased. This is evident from the quarterly figures on the labor market from Statistics Netherlands (CBS).
When the tension in the labor market is high, it is more difficult for employers to find staff. In the first three months of this year, there were 73 vacancies per 100 unemployed. At the end of last year, there were still 57.
Trade, business services and healthcare
At the end of March, there were 245,000 vacancies, 26,000 more than at the end of last year. Such a large increase is uncommon: only in 1999 did the number of vacancies grow slightly more in the second quarter, by 27,000. Stronger growth has not occurred since the start of the measurement in 1997.
Most vacancies were open at the end of March in trade (44,000), business services (41,000) and healthcare (38,000). The largest increase in the number of vacancies was in the hospitality industry (6,000). A quarter earlier there was the strongest decrease.
“It seems that entrepreneurs, also in the hospitality industry, see bright spots”, says Peter Hein van Mulligen, chief economist at Statistics Netherlands. “At the end of March, they were possibly already preparing for a spring and summer when more was possible, and for which they would need staff.”
1.3 million employees
The number of unemployed fell by 50,000 at the beginning of this year, compared to the end of last year. Before the corona crisis in early 2020, 277,000 people were unemployed. That rose to 419,000 in the summer of 2020. But in recent months the number of unemployed fell again: to 334,000 in the first quarter of this year.
Job loss in the corona crisis has been limited by government wage support, according to Statistics Netherlands. Thanks to the so-called NOW subsidy, employers with a loss of turnover could continue to pay the salaries of their staff. Since the summer, the salaries of some 1.3 million employees have been (partly) paid via this subsidy.
Flexible employment relationship
Of all people who had a job in the first three months of 2021, nearly 9 million, 1.7 million had a flexible employment relationship. These are people with a temporary contract or, for example, varying hours. That is 122,000 fewer than a year earlier. At the beginning of the crisis, the number of people with a flexible employment relationship decreased because they were made redundant or because fewer new jobs were created. But that decline has leveled off, according to Statistics Netherlands, partly because more flexible jobs have been added in some professions.
This applies, for example, to nurses and medical practice assistants. In that category, there were 22 percent more ‘job starters’ in this first quarter than in the same time last year. These are people who have been working in that job for less than six months. According to Statistics Netherlands, this increase is mainly due to the number of flexible employees.
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