Fewer Full Time Jobs in the Netherlands
More and more employees in the Netherlands have a temporary employment contract that offers the likelihood of a permanent appointment.
Most of them are younger employees, according to Dutch Central Bureau of Statistics. In the fast growing care sector, in particular, the number of workers with such a contract has risen considerably in the last 15 years.
There were more than 6.3 million employees in the Netherlands in 2010. By far most of them, 85 percent, had a permanent contract with fixed working hours. Another 6 percent had a temporary contract with the prospect of a permanent appointment. This percentage has doubled since 1996.
The remaining 9 percent of employees were flex workers, such as agency and standby workers. This percentage varies according to developments in the economy, and was between 7 and 10 percent from 1996 to 2010.
Temporary contracts with the likelihood of a permanent appointment are often seen as a sort of probationary period. Indeed it is often young workers who have these contracts. Six out of ten of employees with such a contract in 2010 were younger than 35, compared with three in ten who had a permanent contract.
The percentage of 35-54 year-olds with a temporary contract and the prospect of a permanent appointment has risen substantially since 1996, however: from 18 percent to 37 percent.
More at The Dutch Daily News
