Centrally-agreed wages in the Netherlands rose by an average of 6.8% between July and September, equalling salary developments in the last quarter of 2023 which was the highest rise in 40 years.

Healthcare workers benefited by a 7% rise while people working for housing corporations had a 12.4% increase, national statistics agency CBS said. The hospitality sector, which has been struggling to find sufficient staff, put up wages 10.8%.

Teachers pay rose just 2.1%, but this came on top of a 10% increase for education staff in the second quarter.

The above-inflation increase is due to the time lag in implementing wage rises. Excluding the impact of inflation, the average pay rise was 3.1%, the CBS said.

Average wages

Meanwhile, research by HR support group Van Spaendonck suggests the median salary in the Netherlands is currently €3,300 including holiday pay and bonuses.
This means 50% of the population earns less and 50% more, and is a rise of almost 1.2% on the second quarter of this year.

Van Spaendonck estimates the median income has gone up by 27.5% over the past six years, and matches the 27.9% increase in inflation.The calculations are based on anonymised data from 1.2 million wage slips.

The biggest Dutch union federation, FNV, is aiming for a four day week and a 7% wage rise in the coming round of collective labour agreement, or CAO, negotiations. The CNV is targeting wage rises of between 3.5% and 6%.

CAOs are a fundamental element of Dutch industrial relations and cover pay, working hours, conditions, bonuses, perks, training etc. The agreements are traditionally negotiated in the autumn by unions and employers.