Dutch Employers Scale Back Hiring Plans for 2025

As 2025 approaches, hiring expectations in the Netherlands are cooling. A survey by Statistics Netherlands (CBS), published on November 6, 2024, found that Dutch business owners still expect to add staff next year, but they are less positive than they were a year earlier.

How much have Dutch hiring plans dropped?

In October 2024, a net 11.6% of businesses expected their workforce to grow in 2025, down from a net 15.7% in October 2023. A net figure is the share expecting more staff minus the share expecting fewer. The total leaves out the financial, public utilities and construction sectors.

Business confidence was also still below zero, at -3.1 at the start of the fourth quarter of 2024. And finding people remained the biggest headache: nearly 38% of business owners named a shortage of labour as their main obstacle, the most common answer since the third quarter of 2021.

Which sectors are most and least likely to hire?

Business services (a net 21.8%) and information and communication (a net 20.6%) were the most positive about hiring more workers in 2025. Fewer business owners in culture, sports and recreation and in real estate expect their workforce to grow.

Mining and quarrying was the only sector expecting a net decrease in staff, at -7.6%. Agriculture, forestry and fishing was next lowest, at a net 1.8%.

What does this mean for job seekers?

Slower hiring plans do not mean no hiring. Most sectors still expect a net increase, and a labour shortage is still the most common problem employers report. For job seekers, the strongest openings are likely in business services and tech, and skills such as digital literacy, problem-solving and adaptability travel well across sectors.

What has happened since?

The outlook has picked up again. In the ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey for Q4 2026, released on September 8, 2026, 33% of the 513 Dutch employers surveyed expected to hire more staff. That is up 10 percentage points from Q3 2026 and 5 points from Q4 2025.

Navigating the Road Ahead

The CBS survey pointed to a more careful mood among Dutch employers going into 2025, but not a hiring freeze. Sectors such as business services and ICT stayed upbeat, even as others pulled back.

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