International talent for healthcare shortages in the Netherlands

Moving to a new country can bring both excitement and challenges. For many skilled international healthcare professionals in the Amsterdam Area, this balance tilts when their qualifications or language skills create barriers to employment. This is not only disheartening for them but also a missed opportunity for the Dutch healthcare sector, which faces critical staff shortages. Recognising this untapped potential, a new pilot programme is making meaningful strides to bridge the gap, providing pathways for international talent to contribute to local healthcare.

Moving to a new country can be exciting but overwhelming, too. There is much to arrange: finding a home, settling children into school and looking for work. You may have relocated to support your partner’s career or moved with them to their home country. However, many internationals struggle to find a job that matches their skills. This includes highly educated international healthcare workers.

According to a 2024 Decisio report, just over 55,000 income-dependants live with their families in the Amsterdam Area. Around 64% have Dutch partners, while the rest have international partners. Those who are not income-dependants are classified as labour migrants or highly skilled migrants, but in practice, many of them end up in jobs that are below their skills. This trend is particularly evident in healthcare, where skilled professionals face multiple barriers to employment. These include the cost and complexity of international qualification recognition, the language barrier and limited professional connections.

As a result, some of these internationals remain unemployed, while others take on jobs in unrelated fields – such as hospitality or retail – or lower-skilled roles. This not only restricts their earning potential but also limits their ability to invest in the necessary resources, such as Dutch language courses, to meet the healthcare sector’s stringent requirements.

The impact is twofold: it’s disheartening for these professionals, many of whom bring years of valuable expertise, that they can’t find appropriate work, and it deprives the Dutch healthcare system of a potential solution to its pressing staff shortages.

In 2023, insights gained from various events organised by IN Amsterdam and their corporate partners for around 300 attendees in total highlighted this issue. In response, a network of regional organisations joined forces to initiate a pilot programme – Pilot Internationaal Talent – in the Amsterdam Area. The initiative seeks to make the Dutch healthcare sector more accessible to local internationals. These professionals bring years of training and specialised expertise to the table, and the programme could help in addressing the Netherlands’ healthcare labour shortage.

The partners encourage employers to make sectors facing shortages more accessible for local international talent. They also connect participants of the programme with employers and guide them through the complex process of qualification recognition through the certification process known as Internationale Diplomawaardering (IDW) and inform them about registration with the BIG register, the regulatory body for healthcare professionals in the Netherlands. Participants also receive support to improve their Dutch language skills through sponsored NT2 language lessons, helping them integrate more effectively into the workplace and society.

The 2024 cohort consisted of 27 participants of 15 nationalities, including partners of highly skilled migrants as well as status holders and spouses of Dutch or EU nationals. Some are non-EU citizens with residence permits. They already live in the Amsterdam Area and are committed to settling in the country and building a life there – they have integrated into their local community, enrolled their children in Dutch schools and started learning the language. Even though their Dutch skills might be at a beginner’s level, most are fluent in English, and many are multilingual.

Professionally, the group consisted of highly educated healthcare practitioners, including doctors, nurses, psychologists, pharmacists, optometrists and other specialists. Despite their qualifications, they had struggled to get jobs in the Dutch healthcare sector due to language barriers and a limited network. Still, many want to contribute to Dutch society by applying their expertise and specialised skills in the healthcare labour market, which is struggling to keep up with patient demand. They are also highly motivated to learn Dutch and improve their language skills to meet the high level required by healthcare workplaces.

Of the 27 participants, 17 received NT2 Dutch language training and participated in networking events to connect with potential employers. The remaining 10, known as friends of the programme, only engaged in professional activities such as workshops, shadowing and pitches.

With only one month of Dutch language training behind them, the participants met with recruiters from more than 10 large healthcare employers, including AMSTA, Amsterdam UMC, Cordaan, Levvel and OLVG. Each respondent introduced themselves to the employers in Dutch. The recruiters were highly impressed, which prompted them to look into and invest in this readily available talent pool in the Amsterdam Area to address the critical staff shortages in their sector.

The pilot programme was so effective that employers invited several participants for follow-up meetings, to shadow other employees or to volunteer with clients. As a result of the continued positive interactions, many of the international professionals secured contracts, while others have gained a clearer idea of their career prospects and progression. They also continue to improve their Dutch language skills while working. More importantly, all the candidates grew in confidence, gained a sense of community and started to build a professional network in the Amsterdam Area that extends beyond the pilot programme.

According to the participants, the pilot has been a transformative experience, as it gave them enough confidence in their skills and qualifications to pursue a career in the Dutch healthcare system. They have also made new friends as they were supporting each other to learn Dutch, and have expanded their professional network.

In turn, the Dutch healthcare sector in the Amsterdam Area has benefitted from the programme, too, as employers acquired local talent with international expertise and knowledge. Zorgkoepel Sigra has even indicated that more healthcare providers have shown keen interest in participating in the programme, as they believe in its value. Many employers are now eager to tap into the readily available talent pool of highly skilled international healthcare professionals.

Building on the pilot programme, partners plan to introduce the IDW certification process at earlier stages than is currently customary. They also want to strengthen ties with UWV EURES, which has educated participants about the Dutch labour market. Additionally, ongoing discussions with employers and educational institutions such as the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (AUAS) and ROC van Amsterdam (ROCvA) focus on making healthcare training courses more inclusive for international professionals in the Amsterdam Area.