A Van Zanten comic for the economist magazine ESB. In recent years, the labour market in the Netherlands has been made more flexible, which means (in short) that companies have less employees with a fixed contract and more employees with temporary contracts. The reason behind this is increasing international competition with countries with lower labour costs – at least, that is how it has been explained: flexibilisation as an inevitable consequence of globalisation. However, recent research shows that this assumption is not correct. Internationally operating companies have a higher ratio of fixed contract employees than locally operating companies… the subject of my comic. My translation: 1) Okay! Research shows that flexibilisation of the labour market is not caused by international competition. 2) Another myth that has been shattered. 3) A slap in the face of all people going from temporary contract to temporary contract, or for people who have to make ends meet as freelancers. 4) This research has made globalisation as a comforting thought obsolete.
Een Van Zanten-strip voor het economische tijdschift ESB. De afgelopen jaren is de arbeidsmarkt geflexibiliseerd, wat er in het kort op neerkomt dat bedrijven minder medewerkers met vaste contracten in dienst hebben, en meer met tijdelijke contracten. De reden hiervoor is de toenemende internationale concurrentie met landen met lagere arbeidskosten – ten minste, dat is de gebruikelijke uitleg: flexibilisering als een onvermijdelijk gevolg van globalisering. Recent onderzoek laat echter iets heel anders zien: internationaal opererende bedrijven hebben in verhouding juist meer medewerkers met vast contract in dienst in vergelijking met lokaal opererende bedrijven.