Cabinet wants refugees in jobs sooner to fill staff shortages

The Dutch cabinet wants to help 75,000 more refugees and asylum seekers get into paid work over the next four years, as it tries to make employment the default for new arrivals.

The plan, set out in a letter to parliament on Friday by Work and Participation Minister Thierry Aartsen (VVD), would put jobs at the centre of the integration process and let people start working earlier, while they are still being processed in the asylum system.

Newcomers with relevant qualifications or experience would be steered quickly into sectors with staff shortages, such as construction and care.

“Paid work has to become the norm,” Aartsen said in a statement. “Newcomers have talents. They can and want to work.”

Lagging behind

Refugee employment has been lower than the rest of the workforce for years. Of those granted residency in 2021, only 21% had a job after two years, rising to 57% after several years – still well below the Dutch average of 81%.

Separate figures from the statistics agency CBS show asylum seekers who win residency are finding work more quickly than they were a decade ago, though most start out in temporary agency jobs.

The cabinet says too many newcomers get stuck in the system. Many do not yet speak Dutch, lack a professional network, or hold foreign qualifications that are not recognised here. Long waits for a residence permit and repeated moves between reception centres add to the problem, while some employers stay wary of hiring, asking for fluent Dutch or full-time availability.

Removing the barriers

To address these problems, the cabinet wants to free up time alongside integration classes so people can work up to four days a week, and to set up a route for recognising work experience and training gained abroad. Aartsen will also hold talks with employers’ organisations about creating more places.

Since a court lifted a 24-week annual cap at the end of 2023, asylum seekers who applied at least six months earlier have been able to work all year round. A separate pilot to get more refugee women into work is already running in 10 councils, and a fuller plan is due after the summer.

Jamila, who worked as a nurse in Syria for 20 years, told broadcaster NOS she had retrained as a care worker in Rotterdam but that learning Dutch had been her biggest obstacle. “Language is the most important thing,” she said.