State bank: Access to Dutch job market limited until 2024

Due to a gradual increase of the retirement age, access to the Dutch job market will remain limited until 2024, the Dutch state-owned bank ABN Amro said in a report that was published Monday. According to the report, there will be a drop in the potential labor force after 2024, but the drop will be less significant than expected in previous predictions. Previous predictions showed that due to an aging population there would be a shortage at the labor market. Therefore, the relatively high unemployment rate within the Netherlands was considered a temporary phenomenon. But due to the gradual increase in the retirement age, ABN Amro expects a strong growth in the potential labor force from 245,000 to 620,000. ABN Amro further predicts a growth rate of 4.2 percent for the available workforce between 2013 and 2023. According to ABN Amro, the Netherlands' increasing labor force will find limited access to the job market, also partly due to a limited economic growth. As a result of the gradual increase of the retirement age, it will especially be more difficult for young people to enter the labor market, the bank said.