Engineers find work quickly, economists face greater difficulties

Between 2025 and 2030, around 1.6 million people will graduate with a higher education degree in the Netherlands. How easily will they find a job? The Maastricht Research Centre for Education and the Labour Market (ROA) is mapping this out.

The ROA expects the Dutch economy to grow more slowly than in previous years, which means that the number of jobs will also increase at a slightly slower pace. Unemployment will rise slightly, particularly among young people. Nevertheless, the situation is relatively favourable, as the Netherlands has the lowest unemployment rate among 18 to 25-year-olds in Europe, after Switzerland and Germany.

Some positions will also become vacant because people will retire. New positions are being created as well, so graduates generally have a reasonable chance of finding a job. But the chances vary depending on the area of expertise.

Major shortages
Graduates of technical studies or teacher training courses are likely to find work quickly. The same goes for the healthcare sector, which will continue to face major labour shortages for the time being.

"This means that we need to find ways to get more young people interested in studying technology, education and healthcare," says Jessie Bakens, research leader at the ROA. Earlier this month, it emerged that technology and ICT programmes are not very popular at the university of applied sciences level.

Graduates with a degree in Economics or Social Sciences will have a harder time finding work. These graduates will be more likely to work outside their specialisation or earn a lower salary.

The report distinguishes between graduates at the vocational level, bachelor's degree holders (from universities of applied sciences or research universities) and master's degree holders (also at both levels). The ROA expects that those with only a bachelor's degree will have less chance of finding a job than MBO4 graduates or people with a master's degree.

Artificial intelligence
The report also underscores the rise of artificial intelligence, which is creating "new opportunities to automate certain tasks". According to the ROA, the impact of AI on the current labour market is limited for now, but "the potential is great". According to the research centre, it is difficult to determine the exact effect on the job market.