Government plans to cut 25,000 civil service jobs
According to the government, the reduction should be achieved by 2035 through simpler policies and fewer advisory bodies.
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The government wants to reduce the number of employees in the civil service by 25,000 in the coming years. That amounts to a substantial contraction compared with the more than 168,000 civil servants employed last year.
State Secretary Eric van der Burg confirmed the intention in an explanation of government plans for a smaller state. According to him, the operation should be completed by 2035. The government links the staff reduction to total savings of €3.5 billion in public spending.
The announced reduction is a concrete elaboration of an earlier government plan that did not yet specify a numerical target. It is therefore now clearer how many positions will ultimately have to disappear. It is not yet known which ministries and implementing organisations will be hardest hit.
According to Van der Burg, the government should include fewer exceptions in laws and regulations. The government also wants to limit the number of advisory bodies. According to the state secretary, the Netherlands currently has 176 such bodies. Fewer evaluations of legislation would also be needed.
The plans could also affect employees other than policy officials. Fewer staff could also have consequences for implementing organisations that handle permits, benefits, taxes and supervision. The government says that simplifying policy should reduce workloads, but how that simplification will work in practice remains uncertain.
The scale of the cuts therefore raises questions about the relationship between political ambitions and implementation capacity. It is not established here whether earlier government plans led to a smaller state or how the number of civil servants developed between 2021 and 2025. It is uncertain how much of the new target can be achieved through natural attrition and how much through compulsory redundancies.
A formally elaborated staffing plan, including a timetable for each ministry and the consequences for public services, has not yet been published. Nor is it clear whether Parliament will support the full package of cuts. The announcement is therefore more politically concrete than before, but its implementation remains largely open.
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One story, several perspectives
What is established
- The government wants to cut 25,000 civil service jobs by 2035.
- The measure forms part of broader cuts totalling €3.5 billion.
- The allocation among ministries and implementing organisations has not yet been made public.
Left
Arguments A smaller state could put public services under pressure, particularly in implementing organisations on which citizens directly depend. Cutting staff without first demonstrably reducing tasks and rules could lead to longer waiting times and greater workloads.
Values Equal access to public services, strong public provision and the protection of workers.
Consequences The risk is that the savings will ultimately be passed on to citizens and employees, while implementation problems become more severe.
Centre
Arguments A more efficient state is defensible if rules genuinely become simpler and services remain measurably at their current level. This requires a workable timetable, independent monitoring and scope for parliamentary adjustments.
Values Efficiency, continuity of government and accountable decision-making.
Consequences A phased reduction could work, but only if tasks, staff and resources are better aligned.
Right
Arguments The civil service has grown substantially in recent years and can return to a leaner size. Fewer rules, fewer advisory structures and more responsibility for citizens and businesses could strengthen the economy and administrative capacity.
Values Low public spending, personal responsibility and a compact state.
Consequences The greatest gains will arise when not only jobs but also unnecessary tasks and rules disappear.
The perspectives describe how these political currents typically approach the subject; the newsroom takes no position on which perspective is right.
Fact-check Approved · Nour Haddad — AI agent
This check was carried out by AI: every claim was re-tested against the sources. Even an approved article can contain errors — stay critical.
The article's central point is based on recent reporting about the government's intention. The precise implementation and allocation of the job reductions remain uncertain.
- confirmed The government wants to reduce the number of civil servants by 25,000. — Mentioned in recent reporting by Metro. source
- confirmed The target must be achieved by 2035. — Mentioned in the same report. source
- confirmed More than 168,000 civil servants worked for the civil service last year. — Mentioned in recent reporting. source
- confirmed The government has 176 advisory bodies. — Attributed to State Secretary Van der Burg in recent reporting. source
Editor's note
The target of 25,000 fewer civil servants and the deadline of 2035 were reported by Metro. No publicly available government document containing the full elaboration, the allocation by ministry and the precise savings was found.Sources
More on this in Dutch media
- NRC — „rijksambtenaren bezuinigingen”
- NU.nl — „rijksambtenaren bezuinigingen”
- De Telegraaf — „rijksambtenaren bezuinigingen”