Big firms hired 13,500 refugees and asylum seekers last year
July 21, 2026
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Large companies in the Netherlands hired 13,500 refugees and asylum seekers last year, in an effort to plug staff shortages in sectors such as logistics, hospitality and technical trades.
The figures come from Tent Nederland, a coalition of 51 major employers including Philips, IKEA, ABN Amro, Unilever, Arcadis and Randstad, and were reported by NU.nl. The jobs include both permanent positions and work via staffing agencies.
Tent Nederland was set up in April 2025 as the Dutch arm of the Tent Partnership for Refugees, a global network of large companies founded by Chobani boss Hamdi Ulukaya.
The organisation puts employers in direct contact with refugees, partly through regional job fairs organised with local councils and the refugee settlement agency COA.
Companies are finding it easier to reach refugees, director Hélène van Melle told NU.nl, including asylum seekers, who have been able to work year round since a court scrapped a 24-week annual limit at the end of 2023.
“Employers initially had great difficulty getting in contact with these people,” she said. “But within a year we are seeing that companies are open to taking on asylum seekers.”
Government target
Some firms are recruiting refugees by their own initiative. Construction group Heijmans, which is not a Tent Nederland member, has taken on 60 refugees with residence permits over the past two years.
The hirings fit with government plans to get 75,000 more refugees and promising asylum seekers into paid work by the end of 2030. Work and participation minister Thierry Aartsen wants 60% of new arrivals to have a proper job within five years of being given a residence permit.
Refugee employment has long lagged the rest of the workforce, although CBS figures published in May show new arrivals are finding work faster than a decade ago.
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