There are currently 100 vacancies for every 133 unemployed.
Companies are working hard to get the staffing level up to standard again. And that is not easy and accompanied by a lot of stress. For example, many companies for the time being require collegiality and flexibility from their employees and regularly put office staff behind the wheel.
A shortage of personnel results in limited cancellations of trains and buses. Valysrides cannot be run in time and complaints are raining in the necessary student transport for children with disabilities. The workload has never been higher and the holiday season is just around the corner.
In any case, companies such as ProRail, the organization that manages the Dutch rail network, are working hard to improve. The company is actively recruiting new train traffic controllers in order to structurally bring the occupation back up to standard. NS is also busy luring new train drivers with the simulator which was recently seen in several stations.
The lack of personnel will certainly continue until mid-2023. In addition, national urban and regional transport struggles with an absenteeism rate of 8 to 10 percent. As a result, fewer trains run in the evenings and during rush hours. Some trains at night are also canceled due to staff shortages. Working extra long days and more hours for the remaining employees is not a solution. On the contrary, you have to take good care of your people so that they also do not fall out.
backlog
The other side of the coin is that this national situation is sometimes convenient for companies. Where the quality of the service was already downright bad, now much more is used under the heading of staff shortages to justify the minimal quality. This is not only the case in transport but also in infrastructure. Previously there was already a backlog in maintenance and repairs, but staff shortages and delayed delivery of parts have now become keywords.
While we thought that everything came from China, it now seems that the war in Ukraine is at the root of almost all parts supply problems. But even if the equipment is already present, who will do the work? Never before have there been so many vacancies and so few unemployed. Some of those vacancies are in jobs that are temporary, do not pay well and also have no career prospects.
Closed
In some places, cafes or restaurants remain closed because there are no staff. Restaurants that do open often charge sky-high prices from their customers. When everything returns to normal in that sector, you can expect that in the meantime they have chased all their customers away due to their absurd rates. Due to the situation at Schiphol, many Dutch people decide to stay in their own country. Tourism is booming, but staff are lacking.
Many young people leave because they are underpaid in the hospitality industry. Being underpaid is an all-time problem, but for the first time it really leads to problems. It affects not only cafes and restaurants, but also transport, agriculture and construction. For years, people have been exploited in these sectors, with the result that no one in those companies sees a future for themselves anymore. After all, there is plenty of work in better-paid sectors. The work they do now pays better.
aging
Experts warn that the staff shortage will only increase in the coming years. A problem that cannot simply be stopped due to the aging population. The aging population will further increase the proportion of older people in the potential labor force. People are getting older and life expectancy is increasing. Fewer children are being born than before. Until 2040, the number of over-65s in the Netherlands will increase from 2,7 million to 4,6 million. The corona virus has long been warned about the consequences of the aging wave.
