Wages are still rising, but not so hard anymore

For about 2.5 years, wages rose pretty fast, but that is now starting to flatten. This is evident from the figures from the AWVN employers’ association.

In the month of April, wages in newly concluded collective agreements rose by 3.8 percent. In that month, 23 collective agreements were closed for a total of around 80,000 Dutch people.

In 2023, according to employer figures, wages rose by 8 percent on average. Now the time of very substantial wage increases in recent years seems to be over.

For example, employees of the Bijenkorf received slightly less than 3 percent. Civil servants of the water boards received just over 1 percent.

The falling trend of the wage increases seems to follow inflation. It exceeded 14 percent in September 2022, but has been between 3 and 4 percent for months.

Despite the flattening wage increase, employers call on the trade unions to take it easy with their wage requirement. Jannes van der Velden from AWVN points out that 5 years ago the wage increases were much less strong: “The question is whether this is still healthy for companies.”

AWVN hopes to custom work, also with the wage requirement of the trade unions. “We are particularly concerned about industry. We see company closures and a deteriorated competitive position. We expect the trade unions to think along with the company.”

The average wages of April are already a bit under the wage requirement of the FNV, the largest trade union in the Netherlands. Just before Prinsjesdag 2024, they set their national wage requirement at 7 percent.