Students will find it increasingly difficult to find work for a few weeks during the summer months because of demographic and working practice changes, website nu.nl reports on Tuesday.

Automation, the ageing population and the economic crisis mean manufacturing companies are less likely to take on short-term staff in the summer.

However, the hospitality industry, gardening, tourism, cleaning and home help sectors still have jobs on offer for students, according to research by employment agency Start People.

School holidays

Many manufacturing jobs have gone abroad and conveyer belt work often requires a safety certificate, spokesman Jos Frijters told nu.nl. ‘As soon as students get their papers, their working time is over. The same applies to working in a call centre which you also have to train for.’

There are also fewer jobs around because people are no longer taking early retirement en masse and older workers are not tied to the summer holidays. This means companies no longer have to struggle to ensure they have enough staff during the summer.

Studentenwerk, the country’s biggest staffing agency for 17 to 30-year-olds, has also noticed a downturn in opportunities. ‘We have noticed that more companies are filling their roster gaps themselves,’ said marketing manager Sonja Hartgring.

Nevertheless, the company expects to place some 10,000 youngsters a week in a holiday job, around half of whom will work in an office or a shop, filling supermarket shelves, as a courier or delivering post.