New Employment Conditions Memorandum on 'unpredictable 2023'

The joint employers' associations AWVN, VNO-NCW and MKB-Nederland advocate in the new Employment Conditions Memorandum 2023 for the application of one-off rewards instead of substantial wage increases. The available wage space should also be determined by the situation in a company or sector.

In the Employment Conditions Memorandum, an advice to collective bargaining negotiators, employers state that there are major concerns about the Dutch economy. Prosperity is threatened by low consumer confidence, high inflation and the lack of growth in labor productivity. With a possible recession approaching, they call for the Netherlands' earning capacity to be maintained.

Due to the war in Ukraine, the energy crisis and other factors, not all companies are able to absorb blows so soon after the corona crisis without damage to employment or company, according to the employers' organizations. Therefore, the available wage space should be determined properly per sector or company.

The report also looks at the labour shortage. More innovative work and increasing the number of hours worked should alleviate the staff shortage. Attention is also paid to themes such as sustainability, digitalisation and ageing.

You can find the complete note find here.