The Dutch government spent a record €3.7 billion last year on consultants, interim managers and IT specialists — despite pledges to cut reliance on external staff by one third.

The figure is €400 million higher than in 2023 and now accounts for 15% of the total personnel budget, according to an official government report on staffing costs.

That means the official cap of 10%, introduced in 2010, has been exceeded for the tenth year in a row. Only the defence, social affairs, foreign affairs and agriculture ministries stayed within the limit.

The ministry of economic affairs was the biggest spender, using 28.5% of its staff budget on external hires. The foreign affairs and health ministries, along with the prime minister’s office, all spent more than 20%.

According to the government’s own audit service, the increase is largely due to the number of temporary projects, such as resolving the childcare benefit scandal and upgrading outdated IT systems.

Staff shortages also play a role, particularly the difficulty in attracting IT experts who are unwilling to take permanent civil service contracts.