NFIA, helping your business bloom in Europe

NFIA, a Dutch government agency, can be of tremendous assistance in establishing or expanding your pan-European operation. For an overview of our free and confidential services, click About NFIA.  We'll help you discover how investing in setting up your business in the Netherlands pays you dividends all across Europe.

Companies in the Netherlands

Knowledge Center

Our Knowledge Center supplies you with the facts, figures and web links on business in the Netherlands. You can also subscribe to our newsletter and request more information here.

Contacts in North America

NFIA New York 212-246-1434
NFIA Atlanta 404-879-6760
NFIA Boston 617-426-9224
NFIA Chicago 312-616-8400
NFIA San Francisco
415-291-2060

Cost of Labor

Few places in Europe compare to the Netherlands for sheer volume of highly skilled, multilingual, business-savvy workers. Salaries are competitive, too.

As indicated by the chart below, the Netherlands is extremely competitive compared to many other EU countries when it comes to overall labor costs.

When labor costs are examined by positions specific to a European headquarters operation, the Netherlands also tends, in most cases, to be less expensive than its major competitors.

Remuneration of CEO-level management is also relatively modest in the Netherlands, as are the wages for assistance-level personnel.

In addition to straight salary and benefits, the Netherlands is comparatively well positioned when it comes to other factors that impact an employer's costs.

For example, in terms of productivity, the Netherlands scores quite well.

GDP PER PERSON EMPLOYED PER HOUR (US$)
Year/Countries Germany Hungary Netherlands United Kingdom Switzerland
2008 48 24 53 43 43
Source: OECD Productivity Database, 2008


Another measure of total cost for labor involves difficulty in hiring a new worker and the costs to fire a worker.

HIGHER VALUES INDICATE MORE-RIGID REGULATIONS/HIGHER COSTS
  Germany Netherlands Czech Republic France
Difficulty of Hiring Index 33 17 33 67
Firing Costs (weeks) 69.3 17.3 21.7 31.8