While researching the state of financial recruitment and accountant jobs in the Netherlands we came across some interesting information on the views of the Dutch public when it came to the recent recession / financial crisis that we are having.
Due to a recent poll, the majority of people in the Netherlands think that the current financial crisis we are facing will come to an end in one to two years time.
The people in the Netherlands are confident that things will be sorted out sooner rather than later. Nearly half of the people who were asked thought that the current crisis will last between one to two years. A small, fifteen percent of the poll thought the crisis will be over within a year and a fifth are of the opinion that things will stay bad for two to three years.
These results were taken from a poll conducted by the central bank in the Netherlands, De Nederlandsche Bank. The poll was part of the bank’s quarterly report that also announces that 39 billion euros were lost last year by Dutch banks thanks to the current financial problems.
While the opinions of the Dutch people may seem optimistic, they do correspond to predictions from the economic policy unit that were recently released. These predictions from the CPB show that the economy in the Netherlands is expected to fall by 3.5% in 2009 and by 0.25% in 2010, then recovery is expected to start. Consumption levels are expected to stay the same during this period despite problems.
According to the bank’s poll, the Dutch public are planning to cut back on their spending. Half of the people interviewed said that they will reduce their spending as the think their purchasing power to diminish. This statistic is strange as it is generally expected that purchasing power will increase due to wage increases and improved unemployment benefits.
An average of 80 euros is the figure that people will be expecting to cut back on per month and around half of consumers are said to not be making large purchase until things get better.
When it comes to employment and jobs, half of respondents feel safe in their current jobs despite warning of a strong rise in employment. The main group of people who are worried about being laid off are from the low income groups which is understandable. Out of currently employed people around 40% think it will be difficult to find a new job.
Tags: accountancy, dutch, netherlands, recruitment
