Low-skilled workers are increasingly being squeezed out of the jobs market by people with school-leaving certificates, the state benefit agency UWV said on Tuesday.

Of the 111,000 jobs offered for people without a school-leaving certificate last year, 91,000 were taken by people who had qualifications. This is particularly the case in the hospitality industry, retail and farming, the UWV is quoted as saying by Nos television.

At the same time, more companies are using freelancers. Some 31% of firms now work with people who are self-employed, compared with 16% in 2011. In addition, the number of firms using staffing agencies remains around 20%.

Crisis

‘Five years of economic crisis have given an extra impulse to making the workforce more flexible,’ the UWV’s Rob Witjes told the Volkskrant. ‘Employers are looking more critically at what they need people for.’

It remains difficult for the over-55s to find work. Just 3% of people finding a job via the UWV is over the age of 55. The hospitality industry and retail sectors are particularly unwilling to employ older staff.

Other research out on Tuesday from the government’s socio-cultural think-tank SCP showed that 20% of employers think the over 55s are less productive than the cost of their wages. Nevertheless, six out of 10 think the over 60s should continue working.

Part-time

Meanwhile, the national statistics office CBS says the Netherlands still has more part-timers than any other country in the EU.

Last year, half of the Dutch had a part-time job. The EU average is one in five. After the Netherlands, Germany has the most part-timers – 25%. The under-25s are most likely to have a part-time job, mainly because they are at school or in higher education.