Dutch Government to Actively Recruit Foreign Talent in AI, Biotech, Energy and Defence
The cabinet's talent strategy targets skilled workers for AI, defence, energy and biotech while reducing lower-paid migration. The 30% ruling stays, reversing the previous government's course.
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The Dutch cabinet has launched a plan to actively recruit highly skilled workers from abroad in four sectors it considers vital to the country’s future, marking a clear shift away from the previous government’s efforts to bring immigration down. The plan is part of a national talent strategy, adopted by the cabinet on 10 July.
Four sectors in focus
The strategy names four areas where the Netherlands wants to attract, train and keep talent: digitalisation and artificial intelligence; defence and security; energy and climate technology; and life sciences and biotechnology. These are described as the fields where the country has the best chances to grow and where skilled workers are most needed.
The choice was informed partly by advice from former ASML chief executive Peter Wennink, who led a report on future Dutch prosperity, and from former European Central Bank president Mario Draghi, who wrote an influential report on European competitiveness. To attract international talent for these sectors, the government says a central contact point, the Netherlands Point of Entry, will focus specifically on recruiting people for these priority areas.
A change of course
The approach is a notable departure. The previous government had tried to reduce the number of international students and skilled migrants coming to the Netherlands, tightening rules and, in the words of one minister, creating an atmosphere that left some international students wondering whether they were still welcome.
Education Minister Rianne Letschert told the Financieele Dagblad that the government now had work to do to repair that mood. Under the new strategy, universities and colleges will be allowed to recruit abroad again, and the English-language courses they offer will stay in place.
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What it means for internationals already here
For internationals already living and working in the Netherlands, the strategy keeps some familiar arrangements in place. The “expat” tax break, known as the 30 percent ruling, which allows part of some internationals’ salaries to be paid free of income tax, is being retained, according to the Financieele Dagblad. The government is also exploring a pilot scheme to bring in skilled tradespeople, such as plumbers and electricians, from abroad under strict conditions, modelled on an approach used in Germany.
Curbing lower-paid migration
Alongside the drive to attract skilled workers, the strategy has a second, contrasting aim: to reduce the country’s dependence on lower-paid labour migration. This concerns work often done by migrants from central and eastern Europe in sectors such as meat processing and logistics.
The government frames this as a move towards a more “targeted and selective” migration policy, in line with earlier advice on managing migration as the population changes. It also fits with recent measures to tackle poor conditions for migrant workers: last week the cabinet confirmed a ban on the use of agency staff in the meat industry, due to take effect in 2028, following widespread reports of exploitation.
Why now, and what’s next
The government says the strategy is driven by a longer-term concern about the labour market. As the population ages, more work will have to be done by relatively fewer people, and there is a growing gap between the jobs that need filling and the skills people have. The aim is to keep the economy growing by an average of 1.5 percent a year, which the cabinet says would make the economy around 92 billion euros larger within five years, helping to keep public services affordable.
Education is described as the engine of the plan, which also includes measures on training, retraining and lifelong learning, developed together with employers, local authorities and schools. The strategy is part of a wider government taskforce on future prosperity, and much of the detail still has to be worked out. The government has said it will report to parliament in a series of letters over the coming months, with a progress update on the whole strategy due at the end of 2026.