The number of online job vacancies in the Netherlands fell for the first time in six months, according to the monthly Monster Employment Index. The index fell nine points in January.

The decline was sharpest in transport and logistics (down 28%), sales (down 16%) and administrative services (down 14%). But demand for people to work in the telecom sector was up 17%.
‘New developments such as VoIP (Voice-over-Internet Protocol) and the shift to multiplay is creating a lot of dynamics within the sector,’ said Monsterboard.nl managing director Marc de Vries.