Dutch companies are increasingly looking to Germany for skilled personnel.

The number of people with jobs in the Netherlands is currently at its highest level ever (7.8 million in 2007, an increase of 207,000 on the previous year), but Dutch companies are increasingly looking to Germany for skilled personnel. The problem is the gulf between the number of technical vacancies and the number of qualified Dutch applicants.

Christian Pick, the head of personnel at the German-Dutch Chamber of Commerce (DNHK) says: "Too little emphasis is placed on training in the Netherlands, particularly in technical professions". Earlier this year the DNHK asked the Dutch government to do more to encourage vocational training for technical jobs. Meanwhile the DNHK is seeing more and more Dutch construction and engineering companies looking across the border for properly qualified personnel.

There are a number of reasons for this. Many young Germans are interested in Like other countries in Western Europe, the Netherlands has experienced a wave of Eastern European migrant workers, Poles in particular. But now the Germans are coming. Not plumbers and decorators this time, but highly qualified technicians.

working in the Netherlands; it's close to home, the culture is similar and they don't always need to learn Dutch. In the border regions, Dutch and Germans speak dialects which are mutually intelligible. And, of course, German workers are regarded by the Dutch as reliable, punctual and well-educated.

At the same time, the DNHK has warned the Dutch government about the decreasing knowledge of foreign languages, particularly German, among Dutch people in general and Dutch businessmen in particular. That's despite the fact that Germany is and has always been the Netherlands' most important trade partner.

August 2008

[Copyright Radio Netherlands]