Utrecht Invests in Lifelong Development

Alderman Susanne Schilderman (Economic Affairs): “Utrecht has the tightest labor market in the Netherlands and this will remain the case in the coming years. The lack of good personnel is a major obstacle to the development of our city. And we must be realistic: there will not be a large group of well-educated people entering the labor market anytime soon. So we, as a society, will have to invest more in people who are currently working and can work in places where they are most needed. With this policy note, we stimulate, together with partners, among other things, that people can switch to other sectors. A great example is the Regional Talent Fund, with which we invest in retraining and further training.”

Challenges for Utrecht

The latest quarterly figures from CBS (Q4, 2024) show that there are 124 vacancies for every 100 unemployed people in the Utrecht region. It is expected that this tightness will continue in the coming years. Due to aging, fewer young people are entering the labor market. At the same time, the knowledge and skills of job seekers do not always match the professions where demand is greatest. Moreover, a switch to sectors with large shortages, such as healthcare, is often (still) not attractive enough. The labor market is also rapidly changing due to technological developments and societal challenges, such as digitalization and the energy transition. This shifts the demand for specific skills. It is estimated that one-third of the workforce needs to be retrained or reskilled to remain employable.

The Labor Market Policy Note recognizes all these challenges and focuses, within the municipalitys possibilities, on key target groups such as young people, workers who want to switch to another sector or position, and people who can work more. The municipality does this by building an infrastructure together with partners that encourages workers to switch to a shortage sector or a job with a more sustainable perspective. The council also wants to promote good employment practices and interest young people in a profession in a shortage sector from an early age.

Lifelong Development

An important principle of the Labor Market Policy Note is lifelong development. If people, working and non-working, continue to develop, their knowledge and skills will better match the (future) demand of the labor market. Moreover, employees remain employable for longer if they keep their knowledge and skills up to date. This way, unused labor potential is better utilized. The policy note pays particular attention to residents with a vulnerable position in the labor market: people with (compulsory) flexible contracts, workers in shrinking sectors, and people for whom retraining through their employer is not self-evident.

The Labor Market Policy Note focuses on this by supporting the Regional Talent Fund, among other things. This offers low-threshold financial contributions to residents of Utrecht who want to retrain or further train in one of the shortage sectors. In addition, the municipality, together with regional municipalities, the UWV, and other social partners, is closely working on the establishment of the Work Center: a place where every resident of Utrecht with career questions can easily access advice and concrete help, for example, in retraining.

Want to know more about the Labor Market Policy Note? The full note can be read here.