On Friday, March 21, the cabinet will hold a summit on labor market scarcity. In the Netherlands, there are 108 job vacancies for every 100 job seekers. There are structurally too few people to do all the work. The expectation is that this will remain the case, as indicated by the report from the State Commission on Demographic Development 2050.

At the summit, Minister Eddy van Hijum of Social Affairs and Employment, Minister Dirk Beljaarts of Economic Affairs, Minister Fleur Agema of Health, Welfare and Sport, Minister Eppo Bruins of Education, Culture and Science, and State Secretary Mariëlle Paul of Primary Education and Emancipation will engage in discussions with various societal parties on how the Netherlands is dealing with this issue.

The summit will be opened at 10:00 AM by Minister Eddy van Hijum. Following this, Marieke Blom, chief economist of ING, will deliver a keynote speech. She will explain the scarcity in our labor market and connect it to discussions about productivity and the choices we make in our economy and public sector. The attending ministers will then contribute to the panel discussions. Afterward, attendees will continue in interactive breakout sessions.

Minister Eddy van Hijum: “The shortage of personnel undermines the quality of public services and the earning capacity of the Netherlands. We must face the fact that there are no simple solutions. To maintain our prosperity, employers in almost all sectors must perform more with fewer people. Our labor productivity must increase, and working more hours must become more attractive. We must do everything we can to offer opportunities to those who are currently unemployed on the sidelines. I will discuss the adjustments this requires at this summit with all attendees.”

Program of the Labor Market Scarcity Summit

• 9:15 – 10:00 AM: Arrival
• 10:00 – 10:15 AM: Opening and welcome speech by Eddy van Hijum, Minister of Social Affairs and Employment
• 10:15 – 10:40 AM: Keynote by ING Chief Economist Marieke Blom
• 10:40 – 11:10 AM: Panel discussion with various ministers
• 11:10 – 11:30 AM: Break
• 11:30 AM – 12:30 PM: Interactive breakout sessions
  1. Productivity - led by Dirk Beljaarts, Minister of Economic Affairs
  2. Working smarter in the (semi-)public sector - led by the Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport and State Secretary for Primary Education and Emancipation Mariëlle Paul
  3. Connection between education and labor market - led by Eppo Bruins, Minister of Education, Culture and Science
  4. Sustainable labor participation - led by Eddy van Hijum, Minister of Social Affairs and Employment
• 12:30 – 1:00 PM: Plenary closure