Armed forces to tackle personnel shortage

An exemption from foreign missions for male soldiers with a child under the age of one and a €1,000 bonus for defence personnel who recruit a colleague are two of the incentives being considered to boost armed forces recruitment, reports Monday’s Volkskrant.

Junior defence minister Jack de Vries is to announce a number of measures to tackle the staff shortage faced by the armed services this week, the paper says.
According to military trade unions, the armed forces now have over 7,000 job vacancies.
The idea of allowing fathers of young children to remain in the Netherlands is expected to have the support of parliament but the reward for finding staff is more controversial, says the Volkskrant.