Two-thirds of Dutch employers are short-staffed. Most now automate first.
For the first time, automation beats employer branding as the primary answer to staff shortages — 30% of all Dutch companies say it is their main measure.
Key takeaways
- —Almost two-thirds of Dutch companies report a staff shortage (CBS business survey, June 2026).
- —30% of all companies name more automation — robotisation or AI support — as their main measure.
- —A year earlier, the most common answer was making themselves a more attractive employer.
- —Large companies and information & communication firms automate most; small firms more often cap output.
By the numbers
- Companies reporting a staff shortage
- ≈2/3Companies reporting a staff shortage
- Name automation as main measure
- 30%Name automation as main measureOf all companies
- Information & communication
- #1Information & communicationSector automating most
There is a quiet strategic shift inside Dutch companies: the default response to not finding people is no longer to try harder at hiring.
The finding
According to the CBS business survey run with KVK, EIB, MKB-Nederland and VNO-NCW, nearly two-thirds of companies experience a staff shortage. For almost half of those — 30% of all Dutch companies — investing more in automation, from robotisation to AI support, is now the single most important measure. Twelve months earlier, most companies said their main measure was making themselves more attractive to work for.
Who does what
Large companies automate most often, and within sectors information & communication leads. Small businesses more frequently report limiting production because of the shortage — automation requires capital and internal capability that the smallest firms often lack.
The hiring paradox
Automating a shortage does not remove hiring; it changes the profile. Someone has to select, implement, connect and own the tooling. That is exactly the profile that is scarcest: engineers and operators who understand a business process and can automate it. Every automation decision quietly creates demand for a harder-to-find hire.
What we advise
Split the plan. Decide which work should be automated away and which work becomes more valuable once it is. Then hire deliberately against the second list — those roles are the ones where a specialist search pays for itself.
“Automating a shortage doesn't end hiring. It moves it up the skill curve.”
Sources
Figures are as published by the source at the time of writing. Frontrunners commentary and interpretation are our own.