The Netherlands is among Europe’s biggest tech ecosystems, not only driving innovation but employment as well. According to a report by Dealroom, in 2023, Dutch startups created 256,000 jobs globally and 151,000 jobs spread across over 50 cities in the country.
Age and size matter
Last year marked the first time that startups founded between 2011 and 2017 offered as many jobs as companies founded up to 2005, including early big successes such as Booking and TomTom. Meanwhile, the youngest group of companies, which were those founded since 2018, supported 23,600 jobs — showing the fastest growth rate year-on-year.
Size-wise, companies with teams of up to 50 people provided 57,000 jobs, accounting for 57% of the total Dutch startup employment. Unicorns only represented 12% of all opportunities, while Booking remained the largest employer, supporting 5,900 positions.
It’s not just Amsterdam
Although Amsterdam is a big driver of the Dutch startup scene, six out of 10 jobs created in 2023 were outside of the city — indicating that the ecosystem is getting increasingly decentralised.
Specifically, the province of North Holland (which includes Amsterdam) saw the creation of 68,000 jobs, followed by South Holland (which includes the Hague and Rotterdam) at 28,000, and Utrecht and North Braband at 20,000 each.
Sector-wise, one-third of jobs were at fintech, health, and ecommerce startups. Energy and enterprise software were the runner-ups.
Need for talent
Roles in engineering and IT were in great demand across every sector, with the most sought-after professionals being software engineers and IT specialists.
Interestingly, a quarter of all open positions at Dutch startups were for developer roles — compared to only 14% globally. Nevertheless, over 70% of openings in tech startups were for non-tech roles, including positions in sales and marketing.
