Construction job opportunities in The Netherlands

The Netherlands Population: 16.5 million approx.

In general the construction industry in The Netherlands has been performing reasonably well during 2008.

Like many other countries, the house-building sector has not experienced as much growth as in previous years. However 80,000 new houses are still expected to be built during 2008.

The construction maintenance sector is the most important construction market in The Netherlands. It has been experiencing an impressive continuous annual growth rate of about 3.5 per cent in recent years. This strong performance is evident from the below Top 10 Construction Vacancies in The Netherlands, as published by PES (Public Employment Service).

The commercial and industrial construction sector is expected to experience two percent growth during 2008. However after 2008 a decline, partly because of high costs in labour and rising material costs, is expected.

Finally, the rail, roads and waterways construction sector is expected to continue to grow, if at a slower pace than previous years, up to 2010.

While there are construction vacancies across The Netherlands, most construction vacancies in The Netherlands are to be found in the western part of the country in the provinces of North Holland and South Holland, where the key cities of The Hague, Rotterdam and Amsterdam are located.

Citizens from EU/EEA Member States do not need a residence permit in order to be allowed to work in the Netherlands. An agreement exists between most EU States and European Economic Area (EEA) to allow for the free movement of money, goods, services and persons.

In order to work in The Netherlands you need a Citizen Service Number (Burger Servicenummer or, in short, BSN). With this number you are registered for the tax and social security system.



Top 10 Construction Vacancies in the Netherlands for June 2008

Vacancies registered by PES Number of vacancies

1 Carpenters/Joiners 403
2 Painters 384
3 Plumbers/Pipe Fitters 264
4 Bricklayers/Stonemasons 197
5 Electrical Mechanics /Fitters 167
6 Building Frame And Related Trades Workers 161
7 Roads, Dams Constructions labourers 94
8 Building and related Electricians 89
9 Earth-Moving/ Related Plant Operators 87
10 Agricultural/ Industrial-Machinery Mechanics 81


For the latest construction jobs in Mainland Europe visit the constructionjobs.ie Mainland Europe Construction Vacancies page

Construction job opportunities in Poland

Poland population : 38.7 million approx.

For those considering a move to Poland, 2009 is expected to be a year when the fortunes of the construction industry continue to improve. With the Euro 2012 soccer championship on the horizon Poland says it can provide the extra stadia required should Ukraine be unable to meet their development deadlines. However building soccer stadia is not all that the construction industry in Poland is about.

In Poland construction companies expect a number of large-scale investment to begin in earnest by the end of this year or the beginning of 2009.
At the moment the key area of investment in Poland is road building and other associated civils works.

In 2008 the Polish construction industry has been experiencing a high level of development activity. However the figures for this year are down slightly on the figures for the same period last year.

From a recruitment perspective there is particular demand for a range of construction professionals, trades and experienced construction workers.

The most sought after construction personnel are

• Civil engineers
• Joiners
• Construction and maintenance road labourers
• Bricklayers,
• Stonemasons,
• Concrete placers,
• Concrete finishers and related workers
• Welders and flame cutters

Any EU citizen may reside in Poland for up to three months without registering. If an EU citizen remains in the territory for more than three months they are required register their residence.

Working hours in Poland cannot exceed eight hours per day and average 40 hours in a five day week. During a calendar year an employee may work a maximum of 150 overtime hours.

Mozliwosci pracy w sektorze budowlanym w Polsce.

Liczba ludnosci: 38.7 mln

Dla tych, ktorzy zamierzaja wyjechac do Polski- rok 2009 moze okazac sie usmiechem losu, gdyz oczekiwany jest tam dalszy rozwoj przemyslu budowlanego.
W zwiazku z organizacja Mistrzostw Europy w pilce noznej w 2012 roku, Polska bedzie w stanie zapewnic dodatkowe stadiony gdyby Ukraina nie zdazy_a z przygotowaniami na swoim terenie. Jednak rozwoj budownictwa w Polsce to nie tylko budowa obiektow sportowych zwiazanych z Mistrzostwami Europy.
Firmy budowlane spodziewaja sie licznych inwestycji na duza skale juz w tym lub na poczatku przyszlego roku. W chwili obecnej kluczowa role odgrywaja budowa drog oraz inne inwestycje publiczne.
W roku 2008 polskie budownictwo odnotowa_o spory rozwoj, jednak wskazniki z tego roku sa minimalne nizsze niz z odpowiadajacego okresu w roku ubieglym.

Z punktu widzenia zatrudnienia, szczegolnie poszukiwani sa specjalisci i robotnicy budowlani. Na zatrudnienie liczyc moga glownie:
Inzynierowie budownictwa
Stolarze
Pracownicy budowy i utrzymania drog
Murarze
Kamieniarze
Betoniarze
Tynkarze
Spawacze

Kazdy obywatel Unii Europejskiej moze przebywac na terenie Polski do trzech miesiecy bez obowiazku rejestracyjnego. Przekroczenie tego okresu wymaga zgloszenia pobytu.

W Polsce obowiazuje 8- godzinny dzien pracy, srednio 40 godzin w 5- dniowym tygodniu pracy. W ciagu roku kalendarzowego pracownik moze przepracowac maksymalnie 150 godzin nadliczbowych.

Belgium: Construction trade and skilled labour jobs

The Lotto Sports Arena, Antwerp, a 7,500 capacity sport and concert venue built in 2007




Ageing workforce presents recruitment challenge

Belgium is divided in to three regions:

The Dutch speaking region of Flanders or Flemish region in the north;

The French speaking southern region of Wallonia in the south and;

Brussels, the capital region, in the centre, which is predominantly French speaking

Unemployment rates vary considerably between the regions. Brussels was 19% at the end of May, 2007, Wallonia 13% and Flanders only 5.6%. Flanders accounts for about 60 % of the Belgian economy and 60 per cent of the Belgian construction industry.

Employment challenge
Due to an ageing population, particularly in Flanders, a major challenge for the Flemish construction sector is that of replacing workforce. 46% of the construction workforce is now 40 years and older.
Nationally the Belgian construction industry needs an annual skilled workforce intake of about 17,000 new workers to replace those who leave each year. In the next few years, this will increase as a larger number move towards retirement than ever was the case in the past.

Bottleneck vacancies
VDAB is the Flanders public employment service, and each year it compiles a list of ‘Bottleneck’ vacancies. Bottleneck vacancies take longer to fill than average. Because of serious skills shortages pretty much every vacancies in the Belgian construction industry is considered such.
At the moment from a trades perspective in terms of Bottleneck vacancies carpentry and furniture making are the hardest posts to fill. This is followed by stonemasons and finally maintenance people.

Top 10 Most Difficult Belgian Construction Vacancies to Fill

• 1. Carpenters/furniture makers (2,456)
• 2.Masons (1,566)
• 3.Building maintenance people (1,040)
  
• 4.Painters/interior decorators (822)
  
• 5. Roofers (789)
  
• 6. Plasterers (586)
  
• 7. Civil engineers (485)
  
• 8. Industrial painters (416)
  
• 9. Pavers (411)
  
• 10. Formworkers (410)

A few shortages are of a qualitative nature and due to a lack of competences or specific technical skills. This is particularly so in the case of building maintenance personnel, painters and formworkers. But the main reason for most Bottleneck vacancies is a shortage of candidates. There are just too few candidates available on the Belgian labour market.


Belgian Construction Outlook
Over the past two years Belgium has experienced a small decrease in activity in the residential construction market, particularly in Flanders. Non residential building activities have taken over as the motor of the construction industry in Belgium.
Key areas of development include the construction of new industrial sites, logistic and commercial centres, offices and hospitals. It is anticipated that this will continue for some time.

Over the coming years the Belgian government will undertake a number of ambitious investment programmes which will result in the construction of new schools, infrastructure and social housing. The majority of this construction work will be carried out in the Flanders region.

Sources: VDAB (Flemish Public Employment Service), Belgian Confederation of Construction Enterprises, EURES (EU job mobility association),