The Dutch labour market is experiencing a persistent talent shortage, according to a new salary survey report.
The research also flags that when it comes to hiring in 2025, artificial intelligence, automation, and machine learning are expected to be among the hottest functional areas companies are most likely to recruit talent for next year.
In line with this, a recent study by Indeed found that over the past year, job postings mentioning generative artificial intelligence (Gen AI) or related phrases have increased dramatically across the US and Europe.
In Germany, for example, there has been a 3.9x increase, France has seen a 6.8x increase in jobs seeking generative and aligned AI skills, and Ireland has seen a 4.6x increase.
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These aren’t standalone requests. “Data analytics was the sector where GenAI was most likely to be mentioned in job descriptions,” Indeed’s research states, adding “GenAI is also prominent in software development.”
Further intel from BairesDev is of particular interest to software developers who may be job-seeking in 2025. The company recently conducted research across more than 500 companies to understand what the most requested skills are from clients.
It found that machine learning was the fastest-growing skill, with a 383% growth rate, followed by Angular, Flutter, Kotlin, and Terraform.
Rising interest in AI is also causing an increase in the need for core technical skills, which are essential for building AI platforms and applications. Those include technologies like React, .NET, Python, Node, and Java.
The report also notes that this year there was a 77% rise in demand for skills related to data infrastructure.
“Over the past five years, we’ve seen a steady and sometimes steep increase in demand for developers who specialise in tools like Snowflake, MongoDB, and Databricks, amongst others,” says BairesDev’s CTO, Justice Erolin.
“If AI is a gold rush and you’re a developer, you might want to be selling the pickaxes. In this case, the pickaxes are skills related to data because a well-maintained data infrastructure is the engine that drives a successful AI product.”
Skills gaps emerging
That’s all useful information for software professionals who are seeking career advancement in 2025. However, alongside these predictions is a warning about the urgent need for the right talent to satisfy growing demand, with a tech skills gap emerging as a blocker.
Worryingly, in the EU, the European Digital Economy and Society Index found that every third person lacks basic digital skills. According to The European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop), the future employment growth average in the Netherlands for the period 2022-2035 is estimated at 0.3%, but in terms of ICT roles, this figure is far larger at 12.9%.
However, this figure may be stymied by a perfect storm of factors that are contributing to the tech skills gap.
Rapid digital transformation is one factor, and as organisations come under pressure to modernise their operations to remain competitive, this leads to a significant increase in the need for tech talent.
Combine this with the fact that about 40% of adults working in Europe lack basic digital skills, and the fact that one-third of individuals employed in Europe do not possess adequate digital competencies, and the problem becomes more concerning.
This deficit starts early with fewer younger people pursuing STEM subjects at school or university, a problem that then knocks into the workforce, with a limited talent pool available to meet industry needs.
Despite these warnings, a recent report indicates that 35% of Dutch companies will expand their permanent roles in 2025, with 27% expecting to hire for flexible roles. When it comes to salaries, the report notes that “salary adjustments in 2025 will primarily be driven by recognising outstanding employee performance and retaining top talent.”
The outlook for those with the right skills looks broadly positive. The Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis predicts a 15% increase in tech job openings by next year. And amid those concerns around the tech skills gap, another piece of good news is that 30% of software engineers in the Netherlands hold a Master’s degree in a specialised field related to software engineering.
Amsterdam, Eindhoven, Utrecht, and Rotterdam are just some of the cities where software developers can look for jobs. That’s thanks to the home-grown giants of Booking.com, ING bank, Unilever, Philips, and Heineken.
Additionally, many huge tech firms have locations in the Netherlands such as IBM, Microsoft, Netflix, and Amazon. If you’re a software engineer with the right skills, then the Dutch job market represents a rich playing field of opportunities across cloud computing, data science, cybersecurity, AI and machine learning, full-stack development, and more.
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