Business owners in the Netherlands expect to hire more staff in 2025, though expectations are less positive than they were for 2024, according to new research by Statistics Netherlands.

A net 11.6% of businesses plan to add staff in 2025, though that is down from the net 15.7% that said they planned to add staff going into 2024.

Statistics Netherlands also reported nearly 38% of business owners perceived a labour shortage as the largest obstacle to their business operations.

“This has been the most frequently reported obstacle since Q3 2021,” it added.

“Over half of entrepreneurs in the transportation and storage, car trade and repair and business services sectors perceived this as the main obstacle,” it said. “Nearly 34% of business owners said they had not faced any obstacles in their business operations.”

In contrast, the current data from Statistics Netherlands found that fewer business owners in the culture, sports and recreation, and real estate activities sectors, in particular, expect their workforce to increase in 2025.

Those in the business services and information and communications sectors are the most positive about hiring more workers next year, while the mining and quarrying sector anticipates a net decrease in its labor force.

The Netherlands has one of the highest employment and productivity rates in the European Union, with an active workforce of about 9.6 million people, according to a June report by McKinsey & Co.

However, an aging population, declining productivity growth, increasing inequality in terms of income and labor conditions, and a rise in mental and physical health issuesare putting pressure on the country’s labor market, McKinsey said.

“As of first quarter 2024, there were 110 vacancies per 100 unemployed people,” McKinsey said.