Nearly 180 thousand jobs filled by Polish workers

© ANP
In 2017, over 838 thousand jobs in the Netherlands were filled by foreign workers. Polish workers constitute the largest group, occupying nearly 180 thousand jobs. They are among the lowest paid. In addition, Germans and Belgians - who are in better paid jobs - are well represented in the Dutch labour market. Statistics Netherlands (CBS) reports this based on a regular survey on foreign workers.

Out of the 838 thousand jobs taken by foreign workers, nearly half were filled by EU citizens. Almost 424 thousand jobs, slightly more than half were occupied by workers from a non-EU country. Over 125 thousand of these jobs were filled by workers from the Americas, while nearly 121 thousand jobs were taken by workers from European countries outside the EU, including Russia. Relatively few jobs - just under 3.5 thousand - were occupied by workers from Oceania. The rest of the news release focuses on workers from EU countries.

Also many Germans and Belgians

In 2017, over 414 thousand jobs were taken by migrant workers from within the European Union. Nearly 180 thousand of these jobs were filled by Polish nationals. Just under 46 thousand jobs were occupied by German and over 28 thousand by Belgian workers.

Lowest average hourly rates for Romanian and Polish workers

Jobs with the lowest hourly pay are mainly found among workers from Central and Eastern European countries. For example, over 70 to 80 percent of workers born in Romania, Poland, Bulgaria and Hungary have a job with an hourly rate of less than 15 euros. Workers from countries which have been part of the European Union for a longer time, such as Greece, Spain, Italy and Portugal, earn higher wages. The majority of this group earn more than 15 euros per hour. Workers in the highest-paying jobs are from countries around the Netherlands.

Majority of Poles active in business services

Many foreign workers are working in the business services sector, in which temp agencies are the main employers. Workers from Central and Eastern European countries in particular are employed in this sector. In addition, there are relatively many Polish, Romanian and Bulgarian workers in agriculture.

Workers from countries which have been EU members for some time are relatively often employed in the non-commercial services sector, including the public, education and care sectors.