Redundancy requests soared in 2009

Firms in the Netherlands made formal requests to sack some 90,000 workers last year, a 73% increase on 2008, according to social affairs ministry figures.

The figures do not include people who were sacked on the spot for misconduct, people who lost their jobs because a short-term contract ended and mutual agreements.
Some two thirds of requests were made through job centres, the rest through the courts, the figures show. In 80% of cases, employers wanted to get rid of staff for economic reason. In a further 15% invalidity or long-term illness were being the sacking.