There is less demand for financial specialists in the Netherlands, with vacancy rates shrinking for the third year in a row, the Financieele Dagblad said on Monday.

In particular, newcomers to the market and those specialising in general administration jobs are finding it hard to get work, the paper says. The paper bases its claim on figures from Yacht, the financial arm of staffing agency Randstad.
In 2009, the number of vacancies fell by 40%, in 2010 by 16% and in 2011 by 13%, the paper said. Increased cost cutting, automation and subcontracting will further pressure vacancies this year, Yacht researcher Erik Kolthof told the paper.