Netherlands to cut 25,000 civil service jobs – AI is meant to fill the gap
By 2035 the central administration is set to lose about one in six jobs and then save €3.5 billion a year. The government is also counting on wider use of AI.
Archive image · Photo: OMOOC / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0 (cropped and resized)
The Dutch government plans to cut around 25,000 full-time jobs in the central civil service by 2035. Eric van der Burg (VVD), state secretary for Kingdom relations and effective government, announced the plan on Monday. With roughly 160,000 staff at present, that is about one job in six. Savings are to rise to €900 million a year by 2027 and to €3.5 billion a year from 2035.
Police and defence are exempt, according to Bloomberg. Ministries, inspectorates and implementing agencies will be hit hardest; some units could lose up to 60 percent of their posts. There will be no hiring freeze – each vacancy is to be assessed individually. The cabinet also wants to use fewer external contractors, scrap advisory bodies and abolish 500 unnecessary rules every year. The government cannot carry on as before, Van der Burg said, according to Bloomberg.
Artificial intelligence is meant to help the state cope with fewer staff. Initial AI projects are already running in the administration; the government plans to present a strategy for wider use early next year. Dutch and European suppliers are to be favoured where possible to avoid dependence on non-European technology. The number of civil servants had risen by 41 percent since 2018 to a record level.