Last spring, chip manufacturer ASML threatened to move from the Netherlands. This was partly due to restrictions on the number of international students and highly skilled migrants, which the PVV and NSC in particular are advocating for. ASML feared it would soon struggle to hire enough staff.
In response, the previous government quickly decided to unlock 450 million euros, with an additional 80 million euros being made available per year from 2031. This funding is intended, in part, to encourage more students to pursue engineering as a career option. The plan was given the codename ‘Beethoven’.
38,000 additional engineers
Coalition partner NSC raised written questions about this. They remain sceptical about the influx of international students and highly skilled migrants to the Netherlands.
The microchip sector is expected to need around 38 thousand additional engineers, especially in the Eindhoven region. This need extends across all educational levels: from secondary vocational education (MBO) to higher professional education (HBO) and universities. One of the Beethoven plans is to ensure that technically trained internationals remain working in the Netherlands. Efforts will also be intensified to promote engineering careers among women.
NSC wants to know how the millions allocated by the government will produce more engineers. New Education Minister Eppo Bruins does not yet have a concrete answer, but suggests that companies and educational institutions could, for example, “develop programmes to connect international students to jobs in the microchip sector”. They could also channel the money into refining their hiring practices to counteract ‘gender bias’.
Healthcare and education
There are other areas that also need more students, NSC notes, such as nursing and teacher training programmes. If more students choose engineering, is there a risk that healthcare and education will suffer as a result?
The potential success of engineering studies could indeed be at the expense of healthcare and education, admits Bruins (who, incidentally, is an NSC government minister). That is why, according to the minister, the regions are working on “expanding the talent pool”. He emphasises the importance of upskilling and reskilling workers and “attracting international talent specifically”.
Home country
Other countries also face a shortage of engineers, he explains. One solution in these countries is to encourage their engineering students who have gone abroad to return to their ‘home country’. While he doesn’t say it outright, it’s clear that the Netherlands is not the only country competing for these internationals.