The Dutch government has announced a ‘Working in Care’ action program to reduce staffing shortages in the healthcare sector, which it has sent to the House of Representatives.

The program follows data from the UWV, the Dutch employment insurance agency, which showed that the number of healthcare jobs is increasing but staff shortages are also increasing.

The government warned that if nothing is done now about the shortages, then in 2022 there will be a shortage of 100,000 to 125,000 employees.

The plan includes additional resources for apprenticeships and retraining, 28 regional action plans of, among others, employers and educational institutions and a nationwide campaign that aims to tackle staff shortages in health care.

The cabinet also set aside €320 million to fund training programmes and recruitment campaigns in an effort to fill vacancies in the healthcare sector, which will be allocated on a regional basis.

More than 1 million employees work in the health sector. The sector accounts for 13% of all employees in the Netherlands.