The biggest Dutch home nursing group TSN is cutting its workforce by 650, scrapping 1,500 temporary jobs and ‘sharply reducing’ the wages of 4,300 workers, the company said on Wednesday.

The package of measures shows the impact of government cuts on the home nursing sector, company director Zion Jongstra is quoted as saying by news agency ANP.

Responsibility for home nursing has been switched from national government to local councils, which have also been given less money to do the work with. This is part of cabinet policy to get family and friends to do more to help the elderly and handicapped live in their own homes.

‘In addition, many local councils are also drastically reducing the payments for home helps,’ Jongstra said.

The employees who are losing their jobs work in local authority areas where councils are stopping all funding for home help services. Those whose wages are being cut work in places where the council payment does not cover the wage costs, Jongstra said.

‘This means TSN is having to pay €5 an hour towards the cost,’ the director said. ‘We are sorry that we have to cut the wages of people doing such valuable work but we have no choice.’