MAY 2022 | 5
NATIONAL
Ukrainians are welcome in the tight Dutch labour market Ukrainian refugees may be able to fill some of the 387,000 vacancies in the Dutch labour market. Due to big staff shortages both blue- and white-collar workers are welcome. On 24 February, Russia invaded Ukraine, launching missile attacks and killing civilians. While it is prohibited for Ukrainian men aged 18-60 to leave the country, more than 4 million women and children have left Ukraine. Most are staying in Poland, yet some go further. Ukrainians can receive temporary residential status in the Netherlands under the EU Temporary Protection Directive. Work permits not necessary The government has abolished the requirement for a work permit for those who enter the Netherlands under the Directive. This exemption took effect on 1 April (retroactive to 4 March). It is now possible to work in the Netherlands for a year with just a Ukrainian passport. This period may be extended later if necessary. The government has taken additional measures to protect these refugees on the labour market. Ukrainians will, for example, only be permitted to work as paid employees. Employers do not need to apply for work permits. However, they must report to the UWV that they have hired a Ukrainian refugee. As of 15 April, they are required to report this at least two days before the person starts working, otherwise they may be fined, and they have to submit certain information
to the authorities, such as the employee’s working hours and place of work. The Dutch government initially expected 50,000 Ukrainian refugees, though the number might turn out bigger. ABN AMRO Bank predicts that up to 156,000 Ukrainians will come to the Netherlands and that approximately half of them will enter the labour market. Tight Dutch labour market Ukrainian refugees might bring some relief to the tight Dutch labour market. As stated in a recent report published by ABN AMRO in March, the number of unemployed in December 2021 in the Netherlands stood at 336,000, one of the lowest numbers ever, while there were 387,000 unfilled vacancies. Based on the Ukrainian education level, the refugees do not necessarily have to work at the bottom of the labour market, states Piet Rietman, economist at ABN Amro. Digital professionals wanted Not only blue-collar workers are welcome in The Netherlands. Many companies are seeking IT specialists. For example, DEPT agency published an open call to Ukrainian digital professionals on its website, looking for front-end and back-end developers, architects, software engineers, UX designers et cetera. Moreover, the agency is opening all of its offices for digital professionals who have fled Ukraine and need a place to work with the right infrastructure and support.
Job openings and space in the offices is not all that DEPT does for Ukrainians. Together with software company Salesforce, it is supporting Refugeeforce by organizing free Salesforce trainings for people from the region to help them with future job opportunities, says the agency. Agencies or social media Staffing agencies such as SprintWerkt have already expressed their eagerness to help Ukrainian refugees find jobs, mostly in the logistics and horticulture sectors. Several initiatives are available for those who want to find employment in The Netherlands or first aim to develop their professional skills, such as Refugee Start Force, Refugee Talent Hub, Duizend1 and UAtalents. The
full list and more information can be found on refugeehelp.nl in Ukrainian, Russian, English and Dutch. Business owners are also taking matters into their own hands. Danielle van Zuijlen from JC Hair, a salon with several locations in Rotterdam, posted on social media offering to hire Ukrainian hairdressers. She also contacted several Ukrainian hair salons, some of which reposted her advertisement. At the time of writing, Van Zuijlen had already invited a Ukrainian lady to come for a trial day and a job interview. Written by Zuzanna Kuffel
Municipal elections in the Netherlands largest national party, the VVD (the party of the current prime minister), became the largest party in the local elections as well, and the Labour Party (PvdA) took over from the Green Left (GroenLinks) party as the leader in the capital of Amsterdam. The second largest coalition national party, D66, won big in Gouda, Amersfoort and Den Bosch, but the remaining two coalition parties, CDA and CU, lost many seats. Other disappointments included the right-wing parties, the PVV and FvD, which both gained lower results than what they had expected. Still, the winners of the election were definitely the local political parties, which claimed 36% of the votes.
On 16 March of this year, people in the Netherlands went to the polls to vote, this time to elect local councillors in 332 of the 345 municipalities throughout the country. Elections at the municipal level are held every four years and decide who will sit on the municipalities councils that determine local issues. What’s interesting about these local elections that is as long as a person is registered with the local ‘gemeente’ and over the age of 18, they can vote – including EU citizens from other countries and expats! Still, this didn’t help the 2022 voter turn-out, as this election saw the fewest people voting in history, with only 50.3% of people actually voting. The administrative levels of government in the Netherlands start with national
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at the top, then the provincial level, then the municipality. One municipality (‘gemeente’) might cover several smaller towns or just one larger city, and is generally where you register your stay and arrange driver’s licenses. The gemeente is also in charge of many local issues, from waste collection and roadworks to social care and schools. While council members are elected by popular vote, mayors are actually appointed by the national government. The candidates for the municipal councils and positions can come from either national or local political parties. The 2018 elections already saw a strong upswing in local political parties, but nothing compared to the 2022 elections. The
What I found interesting – besides the low voter turnout – was the general discussion after the elections. Dutch talk shows spent several evenings discussing what could be the reason the local parties did so well and why the national parties continued to lose seats in municipal councils. To me this is an odd thing to discuss, since it seems obvious that a local party would do well in a local election. To be honest, I’m surprised more seats didn’t go to the local parties, since obviously they have local interests, issues and solutions at the core of their political platforms. For me it seems odd to think that a national party would have the same level of vested interest in local issues that a local party would. Many speakers in the evening talk shows said that if the turnout had been greater, the national parties would likely
have won more seats. I’m not sure that this is true. It seems that the growth in number of council seats gained by local parties is an indication of the voters’ general opinion on local politics. The discussions also focused on what the national parties could do to gain more foothold in the local elections. Now, I’m not political scientist and certainly not for Dutch politics, but at face value it seems the best chance for national parties to regain seats on the local (or even provincial) level is to align themselves with local parties. That would also give the novice or lessinformed voter an idea of where the local party stands on various political issues – something I found difficult to find out for local parties. National European political parties are all aligned with European parties in the EU – the Netherlands included. Why not extend this association in the other direction to the local level? Perhaps there are loose associations already, but again these are not easy to find online or in local media. Where local parties stand in relation to the national parties aside, the national government above all recognizes the problem of low voter turnout. The Dutch Minister for Internal Affairs, Hanke Bruis Slot, has initiated an investigation as to the reasons behind the low numbers. Written by Marla Thomson
06-04-2022 12:23
