We illustrate in the following policy brief that the Netherlands faces a clear contradiction: high-skilled sectors such as engineering and healthcare face persistent shortages, alongside 27.7% of non-EU professionals working below their qualification level— almost twice the rate of natives. This brief argues that the issue is not primarily a skills gap, but rather a structural network failure. Migrants are often confined to bonding networks that steer them into low-skilled jobs, while lacking the bridging ties that open access to high-skilled jobs. We propose three interventions: a national Mentoring to Work program, workplace-specific language and skills training, and sectoral bridging programs. Together, these measures foster weak-tie connections, accelerate host-country human capital acquisition, and improve matching between migrant skills and Dutch labor market needs.
Contact the authors:
erik.mansillavalle@ru.nl
tomoki.nakano@ru.nl
aisha.romero@ru.nl
roan.voors@ru.nl