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

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. 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. 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.

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.

What are the signs that your child is not in the right place

Studies (Rijksuniversiteit Groningen) have shown that around 30% of Dutch kids don’t get the right advice for their future education. This means that after a couple of years kids are forced on changing their level of education or school. This can cause severe problems for one’s selfesteem.

As GoStudent is on a mission to unlock the full potential of every child worldwide, we strongly feel it is also our responsibility to share some insights from an expert in this field on how to support your child when you feel it’s not in the right place. Eva Vuurpijl is an English teacher based in the Netherlands and has been teaching on all different levels within the Dutch education system. Whilst teaching she gets the chance to closely observe children going through a certain development, both personally and mentally.

Very often, it made her question: are we as caregivers crossing the line in pushing our children to succeed or is that what needs to be done in order to make our kids happy and successful in a later stage in life?

What are the signs that your child is not in the right place? As long as anyone can remember, kids in group 8 have to take a test which significantly determines the rest of their school career. For years now questions about this test are publicly being raised by experts on how relevant and validated this test is. Because how can one test at such an incredible young age, define your future when there are so many more aspects that actually should be taken into account and a child’s brain and personality develops way more after groep 8? It is not inconceivable that kids end up in the wrong level of their higher education when they had an off day when making this test and therefore scored differently than they would usually do. To prevent them from struggling for years in the wrong place here are the signs that you can, as a caregiver, focus on:

- Low or insufficient grades: if your child regularly comes home with significantly lower grades than you are both used to, this might be a sign that your child is in the wrong level of education. Needless to say, this also goes the other way. When your child comes home with straight a’s, time after time, this might mean he is not being challenged enough. Time for a 1-on-1 with the respective teacher!

- Behavioural issues: behavioural issues always come with a reason. So if your child is acting out lately, it might be good to start by doing some research yourself. First step could be to have an open conversation with your child on how he/she feels. Try to engage, be empathetic and make them feel safe. If you are lucky he/she will open up and share what’s going on. If not (most likely, as kids are kids….) you might want to consider a chat with their teacher.

- Lack of connection: if you feel your child is withdrawn, this might be a sign that he/she is not happy. Questions that can be considered could be: is your child bringing home friends for playdates? Is he/she avoiding talking about school and school events? Does he/she come out of bed easily to happily go to school? Is he/she sick very often? If you are not happy with the answers to these questions, it might be time to take action.

- Discrepancy between behaviour at school and at home: this kind of behaviour is typically something kids can hide easily. So most likely someone else will make you aware of the situation, eg your child’s teacher or another parent. When a situation like this arises, it is very important to get in touch with the teacher to see what the exact discrepancies are so you can get to the root of the problem.

How to support your child when you have identified that he/she is in the wrong level of education?

- Talk with your child: offer your child a safe environment to be open so he/she can share his/her feelings. It is not always easy for kids to open up, especially not to their parents (we’ve all been there, right?). If you feel your child is having problems opening up to you, it might be a good idea to ask someone close to you, to start the conversation. Think friends, relatives or a confidential advisor from their school. When starting the conversation you might want to consider mentioning they are not in trouble or they have done something wrong. You don’t want to scare them off. Perhaps you can choose an environment they like, such as the zoo, the ice cream shop or take them out for a walk in the park. Also, try to use as many open questions as possible to give them the opportunity to share as many insights as possible.;

- Talk with the respective teacher: your child’s teacher plays a vital role in their life and development. That’s why it is important to align with this person. Together you might come up with a solution to the problem;

- Find your child a personal tutor: not every child thrives in an environment that’s busy and where they experience a lack of personal attention. If this is the case, you might want to consider getting your child a personal tutor. A tutor can support your child in their schoolwork, but can also function as a person that listens and someone they can trust on multiple occasions. If it turns out that your child is in the right level of education, but he/ she just needs that extra support with homework or learning methods, a tutor might be the perfect solution here. When your child feels that he/she is in better control of their schoolwork this might also effect their self esteem in a positive way.

- Professional help: if you feel inadequate to help your child, you can always seek professional help. There are so many people specialised in kids, education and behavioural issues. Make sure you do some research and involve your child in this process to gain their trust so together you can book the best results.

When do you stop and when do you give that extra push to make them go the extra mile? As every child is different and therefore has different needs, there is no standard answer to this question. The most important thing in all circumstances, is a child’s well being and when the moment arrives that this well being is out of balance, it is important for caretakers to act and to make the changes that in this case might be necessary. A child’s school teacher can play a fundamental role in this process. Switching classes, level’s or even schools, might seem a lot to deal with, but with the right help and guidance of the respective teacher or department (most schools have a healthcare manager or pedagogue who is experienced with these kinds of situations) it is most definitely worth the time and effort.

How can you as a caretaker support or motivate your child to do well in school?

- Don’t force your child into doing things or positions they really don’t feel comfortable with or strongly dislike. We all have to deal with things we like less, same goes for us in our professional career, but always make sure that when you have the option of choosing a certain school, level or direction you involve your child and discuss options openly;

- Make learning fun, eg implement game elements when doing their homework;

- Don’t project your own dreams and missed chances on your child. Support your children in making their own decisions when it comes to choosing the right school or direction. Support your child in their development of creating their own will and opinion;

- Make sure your kids are aware of all the different options the Dutch educational system has to offer. Take enough time to do research when the times arrives of switching schools/education;

- Compliment them when they booked a great success such as a successful presentation or good grade;

- Don’t get angry when they come home with a grade that is not as high as you both expected. Rather support them and find solutions on how to improve next time;

- Offer them to work with a tutor that can provide them with extra, individual support.

Pro’s and Con’s about individualised tutoring

Pro’s - Personal attention; - Personal learning plan; - Guidance from someone that’s not the parent or teacher, which makes it easier for kids to accept help and advice; - A way to optimise school grades; - When your child feels more comfortable in the classroom, this will boost it’s self-esteem.

Cons - As this is individual, it is less social; - No guidance or help from your peers.