Tightness by province: hiring is a regional problem
128 vacancies per 100 unemployed in Overijssel, 78 in Groningen. A national average hides a market that behaves differently per region.
Key takeaways
- —Q2 2026 tightness ranged from 128 vacancies per 100 unemployed (Overijssel) to 78 (Groningen).
- —The national average was 101 vacancies per 100 unemployed, down from 107 a year earlier.
- —Tightness fell in six provinces year-on-year and rose in six — Noord-Holland cooled most, Fryslân heated most.
- —Where you allow people to work from decides how large your talent pool actually is.
By the numbers
- Overijssel
- 128OverijsselVacancies per 100 unemployed, Q2 2026
- Utrecht
- 124Utrecht
- Drenthe
- 121Drenthe
- Groningen
- 78GroningenLoosest province
Most hiring plans are built on a national number. Most hiring happens in a region. In Q2 2026 the gap between the tightest and the loosest Dutch province was 50 vacancies per 100 unemployed — bigger than the entire national swing of the past four years.
The regional map
Overijssel was the tightest market with 128 open vacancies per 100 unemployed, followed by Utrecht (124) and Drenthe (121). At the other end: Groningen (78), South Holland (85) and Flevoland (86). The national average sat at 101, against 107 in the same quarter of 2025.
Direction of travel differs too
Six provinces were less tight than a year earlier and six were tighter. Noord-Holland cooled the most — relevant for Amsterdam-based employers who felt 2022 as an unwinnable market. Fryslân tightened the most. In other words: a regional strategy from two years ago is probably wrong today.
Three practical consequences
First, an on-site requirement in Utrecht or Overijssel is a much more expensive constraint than the same requirement in South Holland. Second, salary benchmarks that only report a Randstad premium miss inland markets where scarcity, not cost of living, sets the price. Third, if a search stalls, widening the geography often works faster than raising the offer.
“A national tightness average is a useful headline and a poor hiring plan.”
Sources
Figures are as published by the source at the time of writing. Frontrunners commentary and interpretation are our own.