“I noticed it myself,” said a resident of The Hague who wished to remain anonymous. She was recently looking for a new job in the area. So I updated my LinkedIn profile and checked that I “Open to work” used to be. Then I received messages from all sides. I even had to choose, because emailing everyone would be a daily business.”

The Hague says that was different last year. Then after years of receiving benefits due to personal circumstances and doing volunteer work, she desperately wanted to do paid work. “But that didn’t work, because of my age too. In the pictures I look young, but if I tell my age, I’m still disapproved.”

In the end, she was able to find a job: through a program from the municipality, she was hired as an administrative employee on a project related to Corona. “I thought they didn’t want me, because they only wanted young people. But luckily I had the chance.”

‘say no’

Because the project was coming to an end soon, the Hague woman began looking for another job, and it went smoothly. The picture is different for employers. “I’ve had a lot of calls from clients, but then have to say ‘no’,” says Richard van der Geest of UTS van der Geest Verhuizingen.

Busy Today they are busy at The Hague University of Applied Sciences, with a lot to be done before school starts all over again. “We can use ten more people here.”

According to Van der Geest, a deficiency indicates the emergence of a problem, or that there is already a problem. “People have to work longer, or come over on the weekend. But that will eventually stop, of course. If I wanted to and I had people, I could run a second carrier around the corner.”