Netherlands
Netherlands — a priority market. Source-backed signals for workers and employers.
For workers: visible, evidenced skills and mobility matter more where demand is tight.
For employers: describe the real need and compare people by evidence — not a weak CV.
A tight market with technical, care and IT shortages
EURES reporting places the Netherlands among the EU's tightest labour markets, with shortages in technical and engineering trades, health and care, education and IT.
Digital skills demand is rising
Cedefop's Skills Forecast points to growing demand for digital and higher-level skills across occupations, including in the Netherlands.
The market is changing faster than a CV
Public statistics from official EU sources on why visible skills, proof and mobility matter. Every card links to its source with a figure date and region.
Employment is at a record high — competition for skills is tight
75.8% employed (age 20–64), 2024
Eurostat reports the EU employment rate for people aged 20–64 reached 75.8% in 2024 — the highest since the series began in 2009 (and rising above 76% in 2025). A tight market makes visible, evidenced skills more valuable, not less.
Shortages span the whole labour market
The EURES / European Labour Authority report on labour shortages & surpluses lists long-standing shortages in healthcare, construction and hospitality, plus highly-skilled gaps in engineering and IT, and — in the 2024 edition — transport and storage (drivers, mobile-plant operators). The gap is economy-wide, not one sector.
Almost half of employers can't find the right skills
46% of SMEs (≈70% of those hiring)
A European Commission Eurobarometer survey found 46% of EU SMEs found it difficult or very difficult to find staff with the right skills over the past two years — rising to about 70% among SMEs that actually hired. It is a matching problem, not only a supply problem.
The skills jobs need are shifting to digital
55.6% of EU adults with basic digital skills
Cedefop's analysis points to nearly 9 in 10 jobs requiring digital skills, while only about 55.6% of EU adults have at least basic digital skills. The skills profile of many jobs is changing faster than a static CV can show.
The working-age population is shrinking
22 / 27EU countries with working-age decline by 2050
Eurostat population projections show 22 of the 27 EU countries are expected to see their working-age (20–64) population decline by 2050, with the old-age dependency ratio rising substantially. Retaining, re-skilling and matching workers to need becomes structurally more important.
Cross-border mobility helps balance shortages
1.83Mcross-border workers (10.1M work abroad)
The European Commission's Annual Report on Intra-EU Labour Mobility shows about 10.1 million EU citizens of working age work in another member state and roughly 1.83 million are cross-border workers — and movers' employment rate (78%) exceeds nationals' (76%). Relevant for a Baltic & Northern European market where people work across borders.