employers are more likely to adjust job requirements in competition for personnel

Employers are more likely to adjust employment conditions or job requirements in the search for personnel. This is evident from research by the UWV among more than 4500 employers.

Last year, more than half of the vacancies were difficult to fill, according to the survey. In 2021, 30 percent of employers will adjust the terms of employment in those cases. Last year it was 39 percent. This can be about the salary, but also about flexible hours and working from home.

The job requirements are also adjusted more often, for example the number of years of work experience or the requirement of specific training. In 2021, a quarter (26 percent) of employers with vacancies that are difficult to fill will adjust the job requirements. Last year it was almost a third (32 percent).

It was especially difficult to find staff in construction. On average, 73 percent of vacancies there were difficult to fill last year, according to the survey. “A lot of staff is needed there to make buildings more sustainable and to renew the energy system,” says Katinka van Brakel, labor market advisor at the UWV and involved in the study.

“Then you have to think of mechanics, carpenters, painters. But industry and wholesalers also have these problems. Provinces, ministries and the Tax and Customs Administration are less concerned.”

The labor market has been tight for years, but the tightness has been reaching records, especially since the end of the corona crisis. That decreased slightly at the end of last year, the Central Bureau of Statistics reported, but there are still more vacancies than unemployed.

Unemployment is expected to rise slightly this year, but to remain low. It therefore remains difficult for employers to fill vacancies. “Four out of ten employers themselves think that it will be even more difficult to find staff in the coming year than last year,” says Van Brakel.