On Saturday 12 September, tens of thousands of people will march in Amsterdam for the climate. As EGP, we are calling on all our member parties, partners and allies to join this and other climate marches in Europe. For those of you joining us in Amsterdam: we are meeting at *Dam Square (De Dam) at 13:00*.

My company does not want to continue working with me anymore. Do not know what to do and what is the way forward. No agreement given to me yet. Stressed and confused.
Edit:
I have permanent contract, working for 4 years now, cannot say why they are letting me go because it is very uncommon and I do not want them to find me here.
Visa is HSM visa from NL and resident permit from Germany because of my spouse who is german citizen.
I will deregister my address in NL and live in Germany. How will get unemployment benefits and what will happend to pension collected.

I have an offer to move to the Netherlands with an attractive package. the salary including vacation, money and 13th month 15% higher than what I'm earning currently netto. I would be moving with my husband and our three kids. however, I am completely doubting the move when I looked at the monthly cost of having a car that can house us comfortably. the costs are insane. not only is Insurance 200% more expensive than what I'm paying now which is a small minivan would be more than 120 Euros a month. fuel is also way more expensive in the Netherlands. I then looked into the costs of using public transportation instead of a car but that seemed to be even more expensive per month. Maybe it is a regional thing I do not know (Friesland) when I take this into account and look at the total cost. the package does not seem to be high enough to warrant and move to another country. my question is how do people living in the Netherlands deal with such high transportation costs?.

I'm visiting my family back in Nederland for 10 days, I've been living here till 6 years ago. I never really saw anything of Nederland. What are some highlights I should visit? I'm not a huge fan of the cities and since I live in rural Canada now the 'nature' here is also kinda disappointing. I like industrial stuff, infrastructure stuff like that. Do you guys have some tips?

Hi! I'm here looking for advice.

I've been working as hsm for 3 years (3 times 1 year contract) for the same employer. There's a big chance they will not extend my contract as they're very unwilling to to give permanent contracts.

My contract and RP ends on 31.10

I've got an offer from another recognized sponsor, but they're insisting that it's very important for me that the new contract start (not sign) should be not 01.11, but 01.10 as otherwise IND will treat as a new application for residence permit and not a sponsorship change.

I'm trying to convince my HR department to allow me to end contract by mutual agreement on 30.09. It's not approved yet.

I know, that I can stay in the country while my IND application is being reviewed, but I can't work for another employer until I get that approval, because my previous RP has expired. The rule for work continuation only apply for the same employer you've worked for according to IND's own wording.

So this, from my standpoint turns into some kind kf paradoxical situation where I can apply for RP, but can't actually work which will create a residency gap and erase my 3 years of living here.

Please tell me whether I have any other options to not get this gap?

I was also thinking of going by EU Blue Card route, but it the same, I will probably not get an approval before start date.

My GP has diagnosed me with pre burnout earlier this year and I tried some lifestyle and task adjustment. However, things are getting worse and I have a follow up appt where I am sure I will be told to go on burnout leave.

However, I am familiar with how my company deals with burnout leave - happened a lot recently. People, especially managers, are branded as unfit for the role, underperforming and this narrative is spread across management. I am also going through this due to favoritism at work and when I accidentally pointed it out, it got worse for me. More recently I overheard management talk about how we need to start getting rid of expats and this also made me very uncomfortable and contributed to my stress. My team and I were also slowly benched without explanation (started getting less/bad work) I also heard from some that negative narratives about me are being shared - all untrue. Overall it feels trapped and this experience is taking its toll on my mental and physical health.

My Qs are -

1. If I go on sick leave, can they still cite low performance (though they didnt assign me work in the first place) and terminate?
   
2. Is it useful or will it work against me to document the discrimination/favoritism for the Arboarts? Or does this make them recommend termination as reintegration may appear difficult

Note - we also dont have a work council though legally required to. The derogatory/benched remarks are hard to prove as the only people in the conversation were me and the CEO

Weird thing happened. I got job confirmation few weeks back from one organisation in NL. I had call with HR for salary negotiation and start date. They offered me scale x step x. I asked them to give me some time to think over. I got back to them saying at least match my current step which is 3 steps higher than they are offering. In the same scale. I also mentioned that i am open for further discussion.
They sent me mail saying we are terminating your offer. The scale that you expect and what we offer has a huge difference.
I was expecting them to come back to me staying no we cannot match we stick to what we offer.
In my whole career , never i have experienced such thing.
Anything like this happened with anyone ?
Feels like for companies , employees are just another number.

I'm relocating from Germany to the Netherlands in the near future, and the options of public transportation subscriptions seem really confusing to me. In Germany, a common Deutschlandticket covers all forms of regional transportation in the country (busses, trams, subways, regional trains, etc.). While I know there is no equivalent in the Netherlands, I've seen options like OV-Pay, OV-chipkaart, NS-Business Card (and its variations). To me, they all seem very similar to one another and I can't tell which to get. Can someone explain to me the differences between all these options? And what would a recommendation be if I'm going to be travelling often between cities as a student?

My HSM visa was filed on June 19. Still waiting. Anybody else in a similar situation or recently got their visa approved? I am moving from US what are the next steps after getting an approved visa?

Hi I've been advised to search for an employment lawyer by an individual who is apart of my union council. I am an outlier/edge case according to them and my circumstance is quite complex. Any suggestions for a good experience with a law firm or recommendations would be appreciated even if it's just to get an overview of what to do from here on out. The company received a loonsanctie.

Specialising in Leave of absence and sick leave. Location: Netherlands ( or Utrecht)

Hey folks,

I’m posting this because I’m getting very close to the deadline and I could really use help from people who have been through something similar in the Netherlands.

I’m (32 M, Indian) currently living in the Nijmegen area. My zoekjaar residence permit expires on 5 October 2026, so I have roughly one month left to find a way to remain in the Netherlands legally. I came to the Netherlands for my Master’s in Philosophy at Radboud University (graduated cum laude).

Over the last two years, I’ve built quite a deep personal and professional life here. I’ve learned Dutch, have a Dutch social circle, live in a Dutch woongroep.

Professionally, I’m a generalist having 4-5 years of experience across programme & project management, learning & development, teaching and instructional training, curriculum and content, research (politics, ethics, climate & sustainability, and science & technology policy).

For the last 6 months I put all my eggs in one basket and focused on developing my proposal for NWO funding, which, after multiple rounds of revisions and interviews over these months wasn’t selected for the funding. Although my professors were really helpful throughout the process, even they can’t secure any funding to help me do a PhD. Times are tough in academia! So, now I’m trying to move quickly into employment.

I’ve been applying through LinkedIn, Indeed and company websites, but I’m struggling to find an efficient route to employers who are genuinely willing to sponsor internationals.

What I’m hoping to learn from people here

1. How do you actually find HSM-sponsoring jobs?

I know about IND-recognised sponsors and the reduced salary criterion but practically speaking, how do people find these jobs? Are there recruiters or recruitment agencies in the Netherlands that are genuinely good at placing internationals who need sponsorship? I’ve found a lot of generic recruiters, but very few who were able to help.

Does the lower salary threshold make me relatively attractive to employers, or does the fact that I need sponsorship still significantly reduce my chances?

For reference, I’m open to roles in programme/project management, L&D, training, coaching, research, policy/research consulting, facilitation, curriculum/content design etc.

2. Has anyone successfully used an EOR / umbrella / payroll company for this?

Suppose I find a normal job with a company that pays above the relevant salary threshold, but the company itself isn't an IND-recognised sponsor.

Can an Employer of Record / umbrella company employ me and sponsor the residence permit on my behalf?

How feasible is this in practice for an HSM permit? Does having an EOR in the middle make employers more reluctant because of additional cost/administration?

I’m particularly interested in hearing from people who have actually done this, rather than just theoretical explanations.

3. Possible EU-partner route

This one is more complicated.

I have a housemate who has offered to help me explore whether I could stay through a partner/family-member residence route. We have lived together for around 8 months.

She is not Dutch, but is an EU citizen, and has lived in the Netherlands for around a decade.

I understand that EU free-movement rules can work differently from the standard Dutch partner visa rules, and that unmarried partners can potentially qualify in certain circumstances. But I also understand that there are specific requirements around the EU citizen's own right of residence and the relationship.

The complication is that she currently receives an uitkering/benefit, so I have no idea whether that affects the feasibility of this route.

I am absolutely NOT looking to enter into a sham relationship just for immigration purposes. I’m asking because we genuinely live together and she has offered to help me explore whether there is a legitimate route available.

Has anyone been through an EU-partner/unmarried-partner application in the Netherlands, particularly where the EU citizen was receiving benefits?

And does anyone know where I could get affordable, reliable immigration/legal advice without paying hundreds of euros just for an initial conversation?

I’m honestly quite stressed

I know I should have figured this out earlier. I’ve been trying.

I’ve spent months working on the PhD route while also applying for jobs, and now the clock is getting very close to zero.

At this point I’m looking for specific knowledge, introductions and practical leads.

If you’ve been in a similar situation (zoekjaar → HSM, sponsorship, EOR, EU-partner route, etc.), I would genuinely appreciate hearing what worked and what didn’t.

And if you know a recruiter, immigration lawyer, company, EOR provider, hiring manager or organisation that is particularly good with international candidates, please send them my way.

Even a small lead could make a huge difference right now.

Delete if not allowed please!

Hi guys, I'm posting for my friend as he doesn't know I'm posting here and I'm trying to get as much help as possible for him. So they are now in a situation that they will be homeless because his landlord was not paying his rent and tomorrow would possibly be his first night outside as they have been evicted. Him and his brother. We tried applying for houses to rent to no avail and his social worker told him that the homeless shelter is full he needs to sleep outside and beg(In no part of the world I ever heard a social worker tell a client this btw and that's crazy). All I'm asking for is if anyone has a place or know anyone that is willing to rent a place if they can get in contact with me please. It will be really appreciated. It can be registered or non registered. It doesn't matter, my friend just needs somewhere he and his brother can rest their head at night safely. They are located in Den Haag. They were getting a place for the 1st but on the 1st the guy didn't came through so they're stuck in this situation. I don't know if this is important but they are both Dutch.

I've been living in NL for over 4 years. My mobile data operator is Vodafone and normally I have 5G.

What I've been noticing quite a lot (plus others in my family, so it's definitely not a problem with just my phone/sim) is that whenever I enter any sort of shop, be that Albert Heijn, De Bijenkorf, etc. I still have 5G and 2-3 lines but absolutely everything stops working as soon as I enter.

A few days ago I entered a hair salon and while sitting in front of the window on the inside, absolutely nothing worked, but on the other side of that window (outside) everything worked perfectly.

Is there any reason behind this?

(edited for spelling)

The (government) austerity measures are going great!

Persistent excess mortality attributed to the catch-all excuse: "influenza." How fitting. And yet, they still can't balance the f***ing State budget. 😂

https://www.welt.de/gesundheit/plus6a8d9c74e998204a5d80ba17/uebersterblichkeit-und-mrnaimpfungen-was-forscher-drei-jahre-nach-der-pandemie-wissen.html

Read without the paywall:

https://archive.ph/iqmso

Incidentally, the bureaucratic elite did *everything* in their power to sweep this study under the rug. Because, you know, "we don't want to cause unrest."

>>>> The Netherlands will go down in history as the only country (along with a few other distant "Western"—ahem, *rich* 😂—nations) that sees its life expectancy *drop\* as it... "gets richer." <<<<

🤔 (Hint: legalized euthanasia/premature termination of life—not really a thing in Eastern Europe yet). They haven't realized yet that the highest healthcare costs (for the government budget) occur during the final year of a person's life.

Hey everyone,

I’m in Amsterdam for about 6 months for an internship and recently bought my first bike from Facebook Marketplace for €100.

I didn’t really know anything about bikes, but a friend pointed out that it’s actually a pretty nice road bike and probably worth quite a bit more than I paid. I looked it up afterwards and now I’m a bit worried about it getting stolen lol

I already have an ART2 chain lock and I’m planning to get a second lock, but like how bad is bike theft actually in Amsterdam? Would you feel comfortable leaving a bike in front of your house overnight? I’m starting to think maybe I should just sell it and get a cheap bike that I wouldn’t care as much about..

Also, any recommendations for a good second lock? U-lock, chain, etc. thanks in advance!

edit: Im pretty sure the bike wasn't stolen by the last owner, she said she was on a bike trip at NL and was done with it... she came to the deal with some cyclers so assume its true?

I am in my 1st year of sick leave (in November I enter the 2nd year). I am currently working 60%. I have expressed my desire to change teams cause I don't feel I fit in my current team anymore. I first talked to my manager who was quite positive about it and even started advising me in which team I could fit. We then met with the hr representative and she asked me more specifically what my preferences are. Besides the fact that I want to stay in the same role and department the rest were preferences that I would like. The hr representative wrote a summary of this with all my wishes. I clarified my saying that they are preferences and they don't all need to be met. Now, 3 weeks later, I met with the same hr representative and the COO who is also head of hr. The COO basically told me that there is no good fit for me and i should stay in the same team. Even though I know that some managers like working with me. Whenever I tried to be more specific about the preferences she would hold onto something. For example, i mentioned i dont want to work on topic A because its too complicated for me and i dont have the background and in combination with the unstructured team I dont think it works for me. Then she mentioned that i cannot either work with topic B or topic C because thats also complicated. But I did not say I don't want to work with complicated topics. She would also really defend my manager.

I am very sad and confused. I feel like they are showing me the exit door. If they wanted to keep me in the company they would try to put me somewhere else. They said that maybe in the future I can change but there's no option now. But I don't trust them. And aren't they obligated to try to fit me somewhere else? Please help.

Hi everyone 👋🏼

I'm arriving at Amsterdam-Schiphol Airport on September 9th at noon. Would anyone be interested in sharing an Uber to the city center around that time?

I'm hoping there will be some minimum service on the airport line, like there was during the last strike, but honestly I don't know what to expect. I'm traveling on a budget and i fully support the striking workers, but paying 50 EUR for a 20-minute uber ride in this economy, would made me cry in fetal position...

Hit me up if you are in the same situation.

https://www.schiphol.nl/en/messages/24-june-schiphol-harder-to-reach-due-to-public-transport-strike/

Friends are staying with us for quite a number of months. They are interested in going to auto racing event in the Netherlands. Any professional class is fine.

Recommendations? Tips?

In the '70s these would have been known as oil rig survival pods. Nowadays they're hotel suites.

There are a variety to choose from, ranging from the basic to a James Bond themed suite. Originally created as an art project across Europe, they're now clustered near a surf community in The Hague.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/capsule-hotel

Hey, I´ve read numerous stories also here on reddit and some of them are not so nice. That´s why I am hoping to receive a recommendation and opinions that are up-to-date, because I´ve also read about more people defending for themself and perhaps it got "refined".

about me:
So - my goal actually is to save as much money as possible in a short time right now(short stands for minimum 3 months best up to a year). I am a german. Currently I do not have a own flat and travelled last 2 years while working in hospitality. Currently the market is kind of empty and I am waiting longer to find something. I was a dishwasher at last, in a very problematic buisness lets say. Hard work and way too much for 1 Person with a lot of extra hours but it paid good and I stayed up until I had to stop due to having an injury on my hand, I recovered and trained and am looking again for a job like that which often comes with free accommodation and food - which is why it´s so good for saving money, even if the work is under my qualifications. Anways...

Netherlands :

Well - I came across the netherlands with their agencies and logistics work. I have a german license driving forklifts and a few years of experience - since this type of job is nicer - also for the brain^^ - I kinda wanna test it out and also enjoy touristing the netherlands. From what chat gpt and my research on google told me - the weekly fee is high for housing - but compared to my other options, theres ways to get like 20-29€ per hour - and theres a maximum weekly fee they can charge - so overall the possible saving rate I calculated is 1200-1600€ a month (food, health, housing, insurance and all already deducted) if I live cheaply. Is that accurate? Or will something unpredicted be drawn from that?

Lets say 18€ per hour = around 3100€ a month

- ~436€ tax + insurance

- ~157€ health insurance

- ~607€ housing (on 140€ per week basis, I think 15X per week was maximum)

- ~500€ for all personal expenses like food and entertainment.

=== would bring me to around 1400€

and I did not include shift and extra payments in this or overtime. So it seems like a good deal where I can do both and also have a good job where I learn something and might even see a future long term. What does one of you in the netherlands say to these numbers? the deduction in tax etc also seems so low to me.

🔥

Can you recommend any agencies where you know I could get a saving rate like that?

Do you know other jobs / workplaces / companies where I could try? Maybe a direct employment with accommodation instead of using an agency?

If any of you has any other ideas for saving bigger amounts of money quick with a job, tell me please =) It could be anywhere in europe.

Other things I found was the Fish Industry in Norway eg.

I specifically also looked out for mining jobs (thats something I would think is possible) but couldn´t rlly find anything for someone with no experience in that - well I found it in australia(im too old for work and travel) and the US(I might actually do that next year since I have a second passport but I gotta renew it first,... takes months !:D)

Ideally a fast start - I travel there - get some sleeping place and lots of work. Even better if I can work as much as I like lol.

Any ideas, input or help is appreciated. I figured logistic and ship work should be easy to find there - but it´s actually not. You find some jobs but mostly over agencies. And then most postings are in dutch of course. I can translate the page, but then realize their looking for professionals or dutch speaking people. It´s also very time consuming to translate every page you come across.

But feel free to recommend most used job search sides, how natives would search? I only learned about ams, the moment I was in austria for example - it never popped up in my german google search.

Anyone a secret tip? :D I want to work my ass off and save a lot for plans, it seems I am limited by law and europe.

The (government) austerity measures are going great!

Persistent excess mortality attributed to the catch-all excuse: "influenza." How fitting. And yet, they still can't balance the f***ing State budget. 😂

https://www.welt.de/gesundheit/plus6a8d9c74e998204a5d80ba17/uebersterblichkeit-und-mrnaimpfungen-was-forscher-drei-jahre-nach-der-pandemie-wissen.html

Read without the paywall:

https://archive.ph/iqmso

Incidentally, the bureaucratic elite did *everything* in their power to sweep this study under the rug. Because, you know, "we don't want to cause unrest."

>>>> The Netherlands will go down in history as the only country (along with a few other distant "Western"—ahem, *rich* 😂—nations) that sees its life expectancy *drop* as it... "gets richer." <<<<

🤔 (Hint: legalized euthanasia/premature termination of life—not really a thing in Eastern Europe yet). They haven't realized yet that the highest healthcare costs (for the government budget) occur during the final year of a person's life.