Last year fewer labor migrants and highly skilled migrants came to the Netherlands. In the first months of this year there seems to be an increase again. That appears from figures from the Central Bureau of Statistics. A major cause of the earlier decline is the global corona pandemic, which made travel difficult.
Entrepreneurs in particular are closely following the development of labor migration. They need labor migrants because of the shortage of available personnel in the Netherlands. They are urging local administrators and the government to provide more housing for those employees, especially from Eastern Europe.
About 150,000 sleeping places are needed for this. An enormous housing challenge, while there is already a great shortage of cheap rental housing.
‘Wider view is needed’
The growing demand for labor migrants, housing abuses and poor working conditions are reasons for the Advisory Committee for Immigration Affairs (ACVZ) to start a discussion about regulating labor migration. The aim is not to make it impossible for employees from other EU countries to come to the Netherlands; this is not possible due to the EU principle of free movement.
But looking at labor migration from a broader perspective is necessary, says the ACVZ in a recent report advice to the next cabinet. And that also raises the question of whether every industry should be able to bring labor migrants to the Netherlands.
ACVZ chairperson Monique Kremer argues for a separate advisory body for labor migration to deal with this issue. Also because labor migrants from outside the EU are now being looked at. In addition, she believes there should be a minister for Migration and Society. “We have to look at the broad prosperity and not just at the economic interests,” says Kremer. “We also need to consult citizens more about this.”
Attracting migrants or moving sector?
A discussion is slowly starting to arise about the logic of bringing migrant workers here. Because why should you keep companies here if they can’t find enough staff in the Netherlands? Mayor Strous van Maasgouw (Central Limburg) raised this question after the labor inspectorate found Romanian labor migrants on a farm in Linne.
They lived there under appalling conditions, can also be seen in this photo:
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