At the same time, research shows that the Netherlands needs 1.7 million migrant workers to keep the economy running. That may seem contradictory, but it primarily illustrates that the labor market is not shrinking—it is shifting. The issue is not the number of people, but the skills required in healthcare, technology, digitalization, and services. The workers released during reorganizations often do not automatically fit these new demands.
Yet many organizations continue to use job profiles as the basis for reorganizations, recruitment, and development. That approach worked for a long time, but it increasingly fails to match the way work is changing. Jobs are disappearing or being merged, while the underlying tasks remain. This creates the appearance of a shrinking labor market, while demand for certain types of work is actually increasing.
Jobs disappear, but the work shifts
In the basic industry, this shift is clearly visible. Large companies are under pressure due to high energy and labor costs. CE Delft has previously shown that this sector adds relatively little value compared to its energy and raw material use. As a result, jobs are disappearing or production lines are being moved abroad. At the same time, high-tech industries are growing in areas where digitalization, process optimization, and innovation are central. These are roles that require different skills than those of employees losing their positions.
The shift in work is also occurring in other sectors. In financial services and retail, administrative and routine functions are declining due to digitalization, while demand for data, IT, and customer-focused systems is rising. In higher education, support roles are disappearing due to budget cuts, while digital expertise is becoming increasingly important. In healthcare, the demand for staff remains high, but institutions struggle to attract and train lateral entrants.
Internal solutions become visible when you focus on skills
Organizations that look beyond job profiles often discover that part of the solution already exists in-house. In a healthcare organization, two care assistants had been managing the schedule for months. Once they were formally given that responsibility, the vacancy for a planner disappeared. At a university of applied sciences, an excess employee was spending her free time on UX design; she was able to contribute directly to a digital education project that would otherwise have required external hiring. At a large manufacturer, operators provided valuable insights into process improvements simply because they worked with the machines daily.
Such examples become visible when work is broken down into tasks and employees are evaluated based on skills rather than job titles. It makes clear which talent is already present, which tasks can be redistributed, and which skills are missing.
