STEMTALENT4NL: Retention and attraction of highly skilled talent in the Netherlands within Flagship “Migrant and Talent Attraction”

The Commission will support the Netherlands to improve attraction and retention of highly skilled graduates from the STEM fields, both from within the Dutch higher education system and from abroad.

Context

The Netherlands is currently facing a rising shortage in the labour market in professions related to science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM), highly needed to implement reforms in the area of climate adaptation, energy transition and digitalization forecasted in its Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP). Despite efforts, the current pool of STEM graduates falls short of meeting the rising demand, resulting in a record number of unfilled vacancies in 2022.

One specific potential area for improvement concerns the so called “Orientation Year” residence permit. With this admission scheme, the Netherlands offers one  year stay to graduates from Dutch universities and highly skilled third-country nationals (TCNs) to find a job or start a company. The current permit holds significant potential boasts key areas for further enhancement to support Dutch companies in hiring qualified candidates. Therefore, the Dutch authorities would like to assess the possibilities to reform the functionality of this residence permit scheme.

Support delivered

The support measures include:

• Evidence-based policy recommendations for the improvement of the national legislative and policy frameworks to attract and retain highly skilled STEM graduates, including through a review of the “Orientation Year” residence permit conditions.
• A gap analysis and assessment of the current talent attraction and retention mechanisms in the Netherlands and identification of recommendations for attracting and retaining young STEM professionals.
• An action plan to establish the path for implementing the above-mentioned recommendations in the short and long term.

Results achieved/Expected results

The project will enhance the Netherlands’ ability to attract and retain skilled migrants by improving its current orientation year permit system to facilitate admission for TCN graduates: on the one hand international top tiering talent , on the other talent that has expertise in STEM professions residing in the Netherlands. Based on lessons learned and recommendations set out, the Dutch government is, thus, able to update talent attraction policies and therefore be in a better position to attract and retain highly skilled STEM graduates.