What can the Dutch Werkcentrum do for employers?

A Werkcentrum, literally a work centre, is a regional public desk where the Dutch employee insurance agency UWV, municipalities, employers, trade unions, schools and SBB, the body that links vocational education to business, work under one roof. Anyone looking for work, wanting to retrain or needing staff should no longer have to go from one desk to the next, the government says. The centres are often in a neighbourhood, in a shopping centre or a library, and you can walk in without an appointment. A region can have several locations.

The bill makes UWV and the lead municipality of each region jointly responsible for setting up such a desk, in person and online, and gives it structural funding. The intended date of entry into force is 1 July 2027. Some regions are not waiting for that: the Werkcentrum in West-Brabant, for example, opened on 25 February 2026. The law turns it into a fixed task with one recognisable name across the country.

What the Werkcentrum is not: a new organisation. It has no legal personality, and the partners keep their own responsibilities. The explanatory memorandum says the desk comes "in addition to existing entry points". The Werkgeversservicepunt, the single public contact point for employers that UWV and municipalities have run together in every region since 2021, stays as it is.

The bill describes the desk as a gateway. You get information about the labour market in your region, advice, and where needed a referral to the service that fits your question. For an employer with an open vacancy, that comes down to three things.

You reach people who are already known to UWV or the municipality. Jobseekers on benefits, people retraining for a new occupation and newcomers to the country come through the Werkcentrum. Register a vacancy there and it reaches a group that a job advert does not always find.

You can ask about training. Because schools and SBB sit at the same table, it is a sensible place to ask about work-based learning places, an apprenticeship route or retraining someone who comes from another sector.

You have one number instead of five. Today an employer with a staffing question has to work out whether it belongs with UWV, the municipality, a school or an industry body. The desk does that sorting for you.

The Werkcentrum works with the people who come to it. The explanatory memorandum is open about this: a large share of matches on the labour market happen without any public service being involved. The desk is meant for people who struggle to find their own way, not as a replacement for ordinary hiring.

If you are looking for a maintenance engineer, a nurse or a project manager, the odds are small that this person walks into a Werkcentrum. People like that usually have a job and are not actively looking. How to reach that group is covered in reaching passive talent, and why shortages persist for such roles in Is the Dutch labour market still tight in 2026?

So the sensible answer is both. Use the Werkcentrum for what it does well: people already in the system, retraining and learning places. Alongside it, run your own hiring for the roles where the right candidate will not come to you.

Does the Werkcentrum cost an employer anything?

The bill places the cost with central government, which funds UWV and the lead municipalities to set up and staff the desks. The explanatory memorandum mentions no costs for employers beyond the time needed to learn about the change. If the desk refers you to a training provider or a private party, that party's own terms apply.

Do I have to register my vacancies with the Werkcentrum?

No. The bill puts no new obligation on employers. According to the explanatory memorandum, referrals happen at your request and without commitment. You decide whether to register vacancies there, and which ones. Employers who need a steady intake for roles where a short training course is enough will probably get the most out of it.

How do I find the Werkcentrum in my region?

The Werkcentrum belongs to your labour market region, which follows the division that UWV sets every year. If you do not know your region, ask your contact at the Werkgeversservicepunt or search for Werkcentrum plus the name of your region. If you are weighing outside help as well, terms such as RPO and recruitment marketing are explained in our glossary.

What if the person I need is not registered anywhere?

Then a public desk will not help, and an ordinary job advert often will not either. For roles like that, our masterclass shows step by step how we fill vacancies that stay open. And what happens in our own campaigns between a click and an application is on our figures page.

SocialFind recruits for employers who need people on a structural basis, and wrote this article from the bill of 9 October 2026, its explanatory memorandum, the government announcement and the CBS figures, checked on 30 October 2026. If you would like articles like this in your inbox, sign up for our newsletter.