There has been a sharp increase in the number of Dutch nationals living in another European country over the past five years, but the percentage of Dutch who have moved elsewhere is still below the EU average. New figures from the European statistics agency Eurostat show that 3.2% of the Dutch live elsewhere in the EU, a rise of 0.5 percentage points on five years ago. But this is still below the EU average of 3.8%, Eurostat said. The most mobile Europeans are Romanians - almost 20% of the population live elsewhere in Europe. Germans are the most stay-at-home Europeans, followed by the British. Other research published earlier this week showed the Dutch are among the least likely Europeans to want to work abroad. The research among almost 10,000 EU workers by salary processor ADP, showed that just 3% of Dutch workers are open to working in another European country, the lowest rate among all eight EU countries in the study.  More >

The Dutch are among the least likely Europeans to want to work abroad, according to research among almost 10,000 EU workers by salary processor ADP. The research, which included 1,300 Dutch nationals, showed that just 3% of Dutch workers are open to working in another European country, the lowest rate among all eight EU countries in the study. Loyalty is also a major issue among Dutch workers. Some 37% of those polled said they would prefer to spend the rest of their working lives with the same employer, a rise from 22% a year ago. 'The tight labour market means that people are more confident that they can find a job close to home,' Martijn Brandt, ADP director, said. 'Many people who want to work abroad are driven by economic necessity - they can find the job there which they could not find here.'   More >

Fewer freelancers and the self-employed have insurance against illness or private pensions, national statistics agency CBS said on Friday. In 2016, 19% of the 895,000 self-employed in the Netherlands had disability insurance, compared with 23% in 2011.And in terms of pensions, 10% of the self-employed had put cash into annuities in 2016, compared with 13.3% in 2011. People working in the construction sector are most likely to have supplementary insurance - almost one in three pay into work-related disability schemes, the CBS figures show. Earlier this week, the European Commission said the Netherlands needs to reduce the incentives given to both employers and employees to work via temporary and self-employment contracts. The commission warned that the self-employed are more often under- insured against disability, unemployment and old age. ‘This could affect the sustainability of the social security system in the long run,’ the commission said.  More >

More effort needs to be made to ensure refugees are placed in areas where there is work, and taking their background and education into account is also crucial, the government's macro-economic think tank CPB said on Wednesday. Currently, refugee numbers are determined by the size of the town - so bigger cities get more refugees. The refugee settlement agency COA does take job opportunities into account, but the CPB says this should be done more structurally. The CPB investigated how asylum seekers who were given residency permits between 1995 and 1999 had fared. If found those who moved to the Utrecht region were most likely to find work and the worst place for employment was southern Limburg. However, there were also major differences between groups of refugees. For example, the Rijnmond region and Amsterdam offered good job options for people from the former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia but not other groups. The CPB said that by combining individual characteristics (gender, education, cultural background, network) with experiences from the past provides a clear picture of where a person has the best prospects of finding work.  More >

Meal delivery service Deliveroo has agreed to insure its freelance couriers in the Netherlands against accidents - so that a cyclist who becomes unable to work will be paid 75% of their gross earnings for up to 30 days, the Financieele Dagblad reported on Tuesday. The policy also covers specific medical costs such as a dentist and will increase the personal liability payout from €1m to €5m, the paper quoted the company as saying. The concession is in response to mounting criticism of meal delivery firms who only employ freelance workers who have to carry all related costs. This February, all Deliveroo’s 2,000 or so delivery workers in the Netherlands became freelancers which, the company says, means they will be able to keep more of their earnings. The company says it is bowing to pressure from couriers themselves and that 92% back the shift.  More >

Scientific research financing body NWO has announced a pilot scheme to support young refugee scientists for a year. In order to qualify for the scheme the refugees need to have a master’s degree or a doctorate and have official refugee status. The organisers of the scheme say that, like Sigmund Freud and Albert Einstein before them, these refugees have had to flee their country of origin to find a safe haven elsewhere. However, young scientists have trouble continuing their careers in the Netherlands because of differences in working culture, language difficulties and a lack of opportunities to build up a network. The young scientists will be offered a place in a Dutch research projects. At the same time they can learn about scientific practice in the Netherlands and share their own knowledge and experience with Dutch scientists, the organisers say, and perhaps eventually continue their research in their home countries. The scheme is backed by the Foundation for Refugee Students (UAF) and other scientific organisations.  More >