Financial services companies have recently reduced the number of workers they will hire annually while others have instituted significant workforce reductions. The banking and insurance industries were hit particularly hard in 2005. Insurance companies continue to suffer from the new fiscal system, which makes buying single premium insurance policies less attractive to consumers. Dutch banking and insurance giant ING recently eliminated 1,000 jobs in a reduction characterized by union officials as "the tip of the iceberg." The company also said it is considering outsourcing an additional 5,000 to 6,000 jobs. In late 2005, however, Dutch unions won an important victory when ING management agreed to job guarantees and 1.25 percent retroactive pay increases for its Netherlands-based employees. The ING announcement followed similar ones from Dutch-Belgian financial services conglomerate Fortis NV that it would cut 2,200 positions by 2009, and from banking leader ABN Amro, which is outsourcing 1,500 IT jobs (550 of them in The Netherlands) to a consortium of foreign companies led by IBM – moves which have further inflamed relations between management at the companies and union leadership.

On a more positive note, the country's tax department announced that it would recruit 400 part-time employees in Leuwarden in the northern part of The Netherlands. The department also said it would add an undetermined number of full-time jobs. The additional jobs are being created in response to the planned addition of approximately 500 news customer service branches.

This is just a sample of what you'll find in the complete Netherlands guide.