Despite recent global disruption, the Netherlands continues to experience moderate economic growth, with a projected 1.5% increase in real GDP over the next year, and an unemployment rate of 3.6% – among the lowest in Europe. However, this strong economy, when combined with an aging workforce, is widening employment gaps in key sectors.
According to McKinsey, these challenging recruiting conditions are driven not only by changing demographics, but also changing needs, with the overwhelming majority of job growth set to be in ‘high knowledge’ areas – such as information technology and engineering – with over 250,000 new jobs needed in these areas by 2030.
This has made hiring more difficult: over half of the 100 polled Dutch recruitment agencies feel there is a skills shortage, while nearly 38% of Dutch business owners pinpoint labour shortages as the largest obstacle to their business operations.
With hiring challenges set to increase, Dutch companies need to transform their hiring strategies, or risk significant shortages in the future. To address these gaps, they should expand their focus to international talent pools.
Why should Dutch companies opt to hire abroad?
Many of the most in-demand roles, like ICT professionals, engineers, and marketing specialists, can be done remotely. Dutch companies that shift these roles abroad and begin to hire internationally can unlock significant benefits, including:
Access to a larger talent pool: By targeting countries that have higher unemployment rates, or those that specialize in certain disciplines, you can fill roles faster or access a more highly-skilled workforce. For example, France and Germany have the highest number of STEM graduates in Europe.
Access to new networks and business in key regions: Hiring foreign workers can help establish connections and partnerships in those regions through the added proximity to existing or new customers, or improved cultural and linguistic understanding. By strategically considering its preferred growth regions, companies can both increase existing customer satisfaction and create new business.
Saving costs: The Netherlands has one of the highest average salaries in Europe, so hiring abroad can allow Dutch businesses to do more with less. Atlas’ Global Salary Calculator will give you an idea of how much you might be able to save. These savings can also come from increased operational efficiencies, including renting smaller office spaces or a reduced need for business trips when employees are based in customer cities.
Building a diverse workforce: A more diverse workforce comes with important potential benefits, including better financial performance and balancing out historic inequalities in the labor market. Ultimately, an international workforce fosters new skills, attitudes and ideas, making the company more robust and creative.
Hiring internationally is a necessary step for a Dutch company’s growth and long-term sustainability, transforming the workplace into a more efficient and dynamic environment.
Hiring effectively: how EORs support expansion beyond the Netherlands
Hiring internationally for remote-first roles in areas like ICT, engineering and marketing does come with some significant new hurdles – including a range of potential compliance issues due to regional legal nuances, such as the right to disconnect or the risks of misclassifying employees.
Faced with these challenges, many Dutch companies will be considering setting up legal entities in key countries to manage employees in those regions. This too can come with significant hidden costs, including local payroll fees, currency fluctuations, the need to hire local legal expertise and the resource drain on HR teams.
Working with an Employer of Record (EOR) can help you avoid this. With an entity in the target market, a Direct EOR like Atlas can hire employees for its Dutch client via its local business entity, taking on all legal risk. This makes them responsible for:
Managing visa, immigration and work permit processes;
Administering local payroll and taxes;
And handling local labor laws and HR requirements to remain compliant.
At the same time, it’s also cheaper than setting up your own legal entity, reducing set-up costs and administration overhead. This facilitates much faster entry into new countries while giving you the flexibility to adapt quickly as your business evolves. Eliminating the burden of managing inefficient entities, a Direct EOR allows you to test out new markets and pivot quickly if they’re unsuccessful.
Combined, these advantages let you expand your international presence, address local labor shortages, and build a more diverse workforce in the process.
Atlas helps Dutch companies manage their growing workforce
As your workforce expands beyond the Netherlands, there’s always the risk of fragmentation and a lack of overall company unity. Ensuring equivalent benefits for all employees is a crucial part of making all of your workforce feel welcome and supported. By partnering with Atlas, you can offer your employees standardized employment conditions across all regions .
This is exactly what the Netherlands-based NGO Mama Cash did by working with Atlas to extend Dutch Collective Labor Agreement (CLA) standards – including a 13th-month salary, sick leave, public holidays and disability coverage – to its entire workforce. This not only secured equitable worker benefits across all regions, but also allowed Mama Cash to transform their workforce for the better.
Atlas offers premium benefits in all 160 countries we do business in, allowing you to design a benefits package that can make your growing global workforce feel supported as you attract the best talent around the world.
We empower you to expand internationally with confidence, helping to navigate the complexities of diversifying and growing your workforce, while we take on the administrative overhead of entity management.