See more of Dutch Brief in your Google search results
Entering the job market is becoming more difficult for young people in the Netherlands. According to staffing firm Randstad, demand for entry-level and junior staff is declining faster than demand for the overall workforce. While some attribute this to artificial intelligence, Randstad identifies the cooling economy as the primary cause.
The figures
Vacancies for entry-level roles are now over 30 percent lower than in 2022, when the Dutch labour market was at its tightest. Since then, demand for young workers has declined more sharply than for mid-level or senior staff. When hiring slows, young people are affected first and most significantly.
Is it AI?
As AI becomes more prominent in workplaces, some attribute the decline in entry-level jobs to this technology. However, Randstad’s labour-market analyst, Bart van Krimpen, disagrees. He stated it is “far too simplistic” to claim AI is eliminating entry-level jobs on a large scale. He suggests the more likely cause is the cooling labour market, which tends to impact young people first, as their unemployment rates fluctuate more sharply with economic changes.
However, he did not dismiss AI entirely. Demand for junior staff is declining faster than average in IT and administrative roles, which are expected to see the greatest productivity gains from AI. A separate study by Intelligence Group found no clear evidence that AI is directly increasing youth unemployment, but it is subtly shifting hiring away from juniors in knowledge-intensive fields such as law, administration, and marketing, where entry-level vacancies have dropped by 30 to over 40 percent in recent years.
SPONSORED
You’re overpaying your accountant. And they still don’t call you back.
Neno gives you a dedicated bookkeeper, automated admin, real-time financial insights and a free business bank account. Everything your business needs, in one place.
No chasing. No surprises. No unnecessary costs.
A pipeline problem
Both Randstad and Intelligence Group highlight a long-term risk: companies that stop hiring and training young people now jeopardise their future talent pipeline. As the Dutch workforce ages and labour shortages increase, the demand for young talent will rise. Researchers warn that limiting intake for short-term reasons undermines future workforce needs.
The wider concern
The report identifies additional concerns beyond hiring. After years of increased labour participation, the number of people not in work is stabilising. Among young people leaving education, a growing proportion is becoming inactive, and youth unemployment has risen. More people are also leaving the workforce because of illness or by entering the WIA disability-benefit scheme. Although young people are not the largest group leaving the workforce, their numbers are rising most rapidly. Randstad notes that only one in five people exiting the WIA return to work, which is particularly concerning.
Jeroen Tiel, head of Randstad Groep Nederland, described supporting young people in finding and retaining work as “an enormous social responsibility.” He argued that vulnerable youth and the long-term sick represent a growing pool of untapped labour, which, in an economy with structural staff shortages, “is simply no longer defensible.” For young jobseekers, the immediate challenge is a more competitive market for entry-level positions. For employers, this serves as a warning not to restrict opportunities for the next generation.