The Dutch employed labor force between 15 and 75 years old consisted of 9.3 million people in 2021. Last year, 48 percent of those people worked part-time. 28 percent of working men worked less than 35 hours a week, and 70 percent of working women. Many part-time workers combined their job with training.
According to Statistics Netherlands, the healthcare, education and service sectors, among others, had the most part-time workers in 2021. Cashiers worked most often part-time: 94 percent of Dutch cashiers worked less than 35 hours a week. ICT managers most often worked full-time: only 3 percent worked part-time. Dutch farmers most often worked more than 40 hours a week.
In the meantime, Dutch business organizations are calling on employees to work more hours in order to tackle the shortage on the labor market. The additional hours lead to additional income, which can help the purchasing power of households, it sounds. However, the unions argue that higher wages in particular will improve purchasing power.