Continual education and training for Dutch workers is becoming less of a priority for employers, the government’s social policy institute SCP says in a new report on Wednesday.

In 2011, over seven in 10 employers said staff training was a high priority issue, but this has now shrunk to under two-thirds, the SCP said. In addition, the number of employers who help staff threatened with the sack find new work has gone down from 35% to 27% in five years.

The SCP says the economic crisis is probably behind the change. ‘Employers may be more preoccupied with trying to stay afloat than investing in staff,’ the SCP said. In addition, the increase in flexible and short-term contracts may also have had an impact.

The report also shows that working from home has become less popular. In 2013, 38% of companies allowed teleworking compared with 46% in 2011. At the same time, 63% of companies now offer staff temporary contracts.

The SCP says US companies such as Yahoo and HP have set the pace by phasing out home offices. In addition, at times of crisis workers prefer to be seen at the office, the organisation said.

Ensuring an ethnically diverse workforce was seen as a priority by just 9% of employers in 2013, down from 12% in 2011, the report showed.