Dutch labor market shortage appears to have peaked

Tightness in the Dutch labor market appears to have peaked, the welfare agency UWV reported, based on a labor shortage model. Labor market tensions eased slightly in the third quarter, according to UWV.

For example, the number of people receiving unemployment benefits continued to decline. Also, vacancies have decreased for the first time in a while.

According to UWV, the shortage has fallen for the first time since the end of 2020. Labor market tensions have risen for six consecutive quarters since the end of 2020. Starting in the second quarter of 2021, the record will be broken five times in a row. This continued increase ended in the third quarter of this year.

“Compared to the second quarter of 2022, the number of unfilled vacancies decreased by 5.8% to a total of 451,900. It continued to decline by 4.2%, for example, we saw fewer job seekers in the third quarter, but also fewer vacancies for the first time since the end of 2020,” said Frank Verduijn, Labor Market Advisor at UWV, in a statement. .

According to UWV, workers and job seekers often still have a wide range of options when it comes to finding a job or switching to a new one. This is due to the still very tight labor market.