Shortage of technical staff keeps growing: more than 100,000 open vacancies
The squeeze in engineering is tighter than ever in 2026. The Dutch UWV reports a tension indicator above 4, and one in four companies fails to fill a vacancy within six months.
The shortage of technical staff remains one of the biggest challenges for companies in industry, energy and installation engineering in 2026. Across engineering and IT combined, more than 100,000 vacancies are open.
The figures
The tension indicator published by UWV, the Dutch employee insurance agency, stands above 4 for engineering: there are many vacancies and hardly any short-term unemployed. Only three percent of technical companies manage to fill a vacancy within a month. One in four does not even fill a vacancy within six months.
Causes
The squeeze is driven by an ageing workforce, falling enrolment in technical education and growing demand from digitalisation and the energy transition. In Dutch vocational education, the share of students choosing engineering fell from 29 to 22 percent over ten years.
Most in demand
Demand is highest for electricians, installation engineers, mechanical engineers and welders. The Dutch government is working on solutions through its Green and Digital Jobs action plan, aiming for a sufficiently skilled workforce by 2030.
The role of targeted placement
In a market this tight, casting a wide net barely works any more. FORZ deliberately chooses targeted, substantive placement: the right specialist on the right project, rather than as many CVs as possible.