Half of agency work done by temporary workers born outside the Netherlands

A worker picking tomatoes in a greehouse
© Hollandse Hoogte / Bert Beelen
There were over 2.3 thousand temporary employment agencies in the Netherlands in 2024, employing 407 thousand agency workers. More than half of those temporary workers were born outside the Netherlands and had been resident in the Netherlands for less than eight years (and in some cases only on a temporary basis), such as migrant workers. The majority come from Poland, Romania, Ukraine and Bulgaria. Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reports this on the basis of newly released figures.

Temporary employment agencies make more use of workers born outside the Netherlands than any other sector. Of all the people employed in that sector - not only the agency workers themselves, but also administrative staff, for example - 44.4 percent were workers born outside the Netherlands. Among the agency workers themselves, the share is 52.4 percent.

Share is up by half since 2010

The share of agency workers born outside the Netherlands has risen by half since 2010. In that year, they accounted for 27.2 percent of jobs in the sector. In the economy as a whole, the share increased from 8.5 percent of jobs in 2010 to 14.3 percent in 2024.

Especially among larger employment agencies

The vast majority of employment agencies (86 percent) employ temporary workers born outside the Netherlands. In the case of half of employment agencies, they represent the majority of employees, particularly at larger employment agencies. For example, in 2024, 56 percent of temporary employment agencies with 500 or more workers had more than half of their temporary workers born abroad, and 47 percent over three-quarters. At smaller employment agencies, the shares are lower.

At a quarter of temporary employment agencies, over half the temporary workers are not registered as resident in the Netherlands (e.g. temporary migrant workers).

 

Most born in Poland

Temporary workers born outside the Netherlands are mainly from Europe (88 percent). The majority were born in Poland, followed by Romania, Ukraine and Bulgaria. Agency workers from outside Europe filled 26.1 thousand positions in the Netherlands in 2024.

Most agency workers born outside the Netherlands have not been in the country for long. More than 67 percent of the jobs were done by people who arrived in the Netherlands within the last two years.


Sources