Applications to bring non-EU workers into the Netherlands soar
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Add as a favourite source on Google Add DutchNews as a favourite source on GoogleThe government jobs agency UWV received 18,800 requests from Dutch firms to bring in workers from outside the EU in the first six months of this year, just 2,000 below the total for 2023.
So many requests are now pending that firms have been warned the five week deadline for processing will not be met, the UWV told news website Nu.nl.
Companies who wish to bring in someone from outside the EU to do a specific job have to have a permit from the UWV to do so.
The surge in applications has been prompted by the shortage of skilled workers in some sectors of the Dutch economy. There are currently some 450,000 open vacancies, according to national statistics agency CBS.
The number of refugees with a work permit has also soared from 2,000 last year to 5,600 in the first six months of 2024. Refugees are now able to work more than the regulation 24 weeks following a court ruling last November.
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