Bulgarians, Romanians and Poles are among the largest numbers of labour migrants in the Netherlands, according to a survey conducted on the new Schoof cabinet's intention to limit the arrival of more migrants.
Currently, 850,000 people mostly from eastern European countries are working in the country, according to the country's statistics office. The current economic situation in the former socialist bloc countries is expected to bring the number of migrant workers to 1.2 million by 2030.
The cabinet wants to reduce their number, but this is impossible in view of open borders and free movement within the EU, the economic online business site New En.
Migrant workers are most numerous in agriculture, horticulture, distribution centres, construction, logistics, food processing and metallurgy. Most Eastern Europeans are employed directly by local companies, and a smaller proportion through an employment agency or through HR agencies that operate locally in their respective countries.
Economists are watching with interest the ambitions of the cabinet where labour migration is enshrined in the new coalition's governance programme. So far it is only intentions, there are no concrete steps, nor any announcement of what percentage the number of those coming to seek livelihoods will be reduced.
Labour economist Ardian Heima of SEO Economic Research is of the opinion that labour migrants benefit the economy. "If a company in agriculture wants to expand its markets and production it needs migrant workers. The situation is such that businesses have no alternatives if they want to combat the shortage of staff.
Many sectors are facing staff shortages and indicate that they cannot cope without migrant workers. There are currently 400 000 vacancies and this is expected to remain the case in the coming years."
Heima also points out that it is not realistic to stop the influx of migrants from Eastern Europe. "At the heart of the European Union is the free movement of people. And we need a lot of labour even outside Europe. This applies mainly to highly educated staff. Many technology companies are taking advantage of this."
In recent years, the share of migrant workers from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) has also been growing, mainly from India and Syria. Since the outbreak of the military conflict in Ukraine, many Russians and Ukrainians have opted for the Netherlands for work and a new life.
Frank van Gul, director of OTTO Work Force, an employment agency for workers from Eastern Europe. He says that if anything is going to change it should be towards better regulation of bogus agencies. "They bring people here to exploit them, not to give them good working conditions. We need to get rid of those," he urged. I BGNES
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Apostol Apostolov, reporting specially for BGNES from Brussels.
