At the end of 2014, there were 26,000 more vacancies advertised than a year earlier, showing an overall increase of 16%. Monsterboard saw the number of vacancies advertised on their jobboard increase by a staggering 30%. The main growth was in the field of IT and in particular the demand for software developers and web developers continues to be strong. The mood is positive and according to the LinkedIn 2014 survey, companies have increased their hiring budgets for the coming year.
The Netherlands remains attractive for international companies looking to set up an European office. According to Amsterdam in Business, 139 international companies set up their offices in Amsterdam in 2014. Brabant also remains an interesting option for international companies with the Brainport in Eindhoven attracting innovative technology companies.
We are seeing that companies are looking for flexible solutions in the initial period of growth and many are choosing to offer candidates temporary or freelance contracts rather than a direct contract. One of the reasons is that many companies are still uncertain as to how the market will develop although the increased workload means that they need to increase their staff numbers. In this situation, a flexible workforce is attractive as it means that if the demand for their services or products does not continue, that they are not tied in to fixed employment contracts.
It remains to be seen what the impact of the new Dutch labour laws, that were introduced on January 1, 2015, will be. Companies are now prohibited to have a probation period with employment contracts of 6 months or less and employees must be offered an indefinite contract after two years of employment. By offering temporary contracts, companies have the time to assess the performance and motivation of new employees before offering them a direct contract.
Some of the larger international companies continue to outsource departments such as finance and customer service to low-cost countries. However, the forecasted economic growth means that the number of vacancies should continue to increase in 2015.
The job market is heating up, which will result in the inevitable “war on talent”. Candidates are already starting to enjoy the luxury of having more than one job offer on the table. The challenge for companies is to find ways to attract top talent if they are not prepared to offer higher salaries. Instead companies will have look at other options such as the work life balance, secondary benefits and a great environment to work in.
Maureen Adam is a British national and has lived in The Netherlands for 25 years. She founded Adams Multilingual Recruitment 18 years ago following a career in recruitment in London, Hong Kong and Amsterdam. Even after all these years, recruitment remains an exciting and dynamic industry, constantly being challenged by the changes in technology