Restructuring in 2026: The New Talent Transition Challenge for Dutch Employers

The Dutch labor market is cooling. AI is changing the nature of work. And for international employees, losing a job can mean losing the right to remain in the Netherlands. For HR leaders, this makes responsible outplacement more relevant than ever.

For several years, Dutch employers operated in an exceptionally tight labor market. That picture is now changing, but not disappearing.

At the end of Q2 2026, the Netherlands had 375,000 open vacancies, while the number of vacancies per 100 unemployed people stood at 95. That is a significant change from the peak of 142 vacancies per 100 unemployed in Q2 2022. At the same time, unemployment remained relatively low at 3.9%, and the Netherlands still had around 11.6 million jobs.

The message for employers is therefore not “there are no jobs anymore”. It is more subtle: the labor market is becoming more selective, and moving from one job to another is becoming harder.

From hiring shortages to workforce redesign

At the same time, organizations are under pressure to rethink how work gets done.

AI is an important part of this transformation. McKinsey's latest research on Europe estimates that 58% of current work hours could theoretically be automated using technologies already available. Importantly, McKinsey stresses that this is automation potential, not a forecast of job losses. Around three-quarters of the skills currently demanded by European employers are used in both automatable and non-automatable activities,  suggesting that many jobs will evolve rather than simply disappear.

The skills employers seek are already changing. McKinsey finds that the share of European occupations requiring AI-related skills has more than tripled since 2023, while demand for AI fluency has increased fivefold.

Deloitte reaches a similar conclusion from an HR perspective. Its 2026 Global Human Capital Trends research describes organizations as being at a “tipping point”, where AI, economic volatility and changing workforce expectations are converging. 85% of leaders say adaptability is critical, yet only 7% believe their organization is leading in helping its workforce continuously adapt.

This creates a very different workforce challenge from the one HR departments faced five years ago.

It is no longer simply about finding enough people.

It is increasingly about having the right people, with the right skills, in the right roles and helping people transition when those roles change.

Dutch employees are feeling the uncertainty too

The impact is not purely organizational.

According to CBS, 41% of people in paid employment believe their job could be partly performed by AI, while 4% believe AI could take over their job completely. Among people who already use AI at work, the proportion believing their job could be partly or fully performed by AI rises to 56%.

Three-quarters of Dutch adults also expect AI to cause some jobs to disappear.

This does not mean that three-quarters of jobs will disappear. It does, however, illustrate how profoundly the relationship between people, skills and employment is changing.

For employers undertaking restructuring, this creates a new responsibility: how do you help employees move towards the part of the labor market where their experience and capabilities remain valuable?

A particular challenge for international employees

For international employees, there is an additional dimension.

A Highly Skilled Migrant (HSM) does not simply lose a job when their employment ends. Their right to remain in the Netherlands is connected to their employment and residence status.

The rules have recently changed. Since 22 May 2026, an HSM who loses their job generally has up to three months to find a new qualifying position. If they have held their HSM permit for at least two years and became unemployed on or after 22 May 2026, this search period can be up to six months. However, the period can never exceed the remaining validity of their residence permit.

That distinction is critical.

For someone who has built a life in the Netherlands, the question after redundancy may therefore not simply be:

“What is my next job?”

It can also be:

“Can I find the right job quickly enough to remain in the Netherlands?”

This is where international employees can benefit disproportionately from structured transition support.

Outplacement becomes more than CV writing

Traditional outplacement has often been associated with CV preparation and interview coaching. But the current labor market requires a broader approach.

Employees may need help identifying transferable skills, repositioning their experience for a different sector, mapping relevant employers, strengthening their LinkedIn profile, targeting applications and preparing for interviews. For international professionals, this also means understanding how to navigate the Dutch recruitment market and how to position an international profile effectively. These are precisely the elements that can form part of a structured outplacement program.
For employers, the benefit goes beyond supporting the individual.

A well-designed transition program can help organizations manage restructuring in a more human and constructive way, while potentially helping valuable talent remain in the Dutch labor market.

That is increasingly important at a time when the labor market is simultaneously experiencing redundancies in some functions and persistent shortages in others.

The question HR leaders should be asking

The most important question during a restructuring is perhaps no longer simply:

“How do we manage the exit?”

It is:

“How do we help people make the transition to where their skills are still needed?”

At Undutchables, we have been asking that question for a long time.

We originally developed our outplacement support during the 2008 financial crisis, when organizations faced major restructuring and employees needed practical support to navigate a difficult labor market.

The context in 2026 is different. AI, international mobility and changing skills requirements have added new layers of complexity.

But the principle remains remarkably similar:

A role may disappear without the value of the person disappearing with it.

For companies restructuring today - particularly those employing international professionals - helping employees make that next transition can be both a responsible people decision and a smart way of retaining talent within the wider Dutch labor market.

What makes the challenge particularly relevant for Undutchables is that outplacement does not stand on its own. It sits alongside our day-to-day work in international recruitment. We understand the Dutch labor market, the challenges international professionals face, and the way employers assess multilingual and internationally experienced candidates.

That allows us to support people not only with CVs and interview preparation, but also with the wider transition: identifying transferable skills, understanding where demand exists, positioning an international profile effectively, targeting relevant employers, and connecting candidates to opportunities where their experience can still add value.

For international employees in particular, that combination of career transition support and knowledge of the Dutch recruitment market can make a meaningful difference when time is limited.

For companies restructuring today, particularly those employing international professionals, helping employees make that next transition can be both a responsible people decision and a smart way of retaining talent within the wider Dutch labor market.

In that sense, responsible outplacement is becoming less about managing an exit and more about managing a transition.