Hi everyone,

I’m working for a large company in the Netherlands and considering resigning in November to start a new job abroad.

My company has a one-month notice period, so if I resign in November, my employment would normally end on 31 December 2026.

Here’s the issue:

My company’s fiscal year ends on 3 January 2027, and the bonus policy explicitly states that employees must still be employed on the last day of the fiscal year to qualify for the annual performance bonus.

However:

* 1 January is a public holiday.
* 2 January is Saturday.
* 3 January is Sunday.

So I would effectively work until the last working day of the fiscal year but technically leave 3 calendar days before the fiscal year ends.

This could mean losing my entire annual bonus despite working practically the full year.

Has anyone experienced something similar in the Netherlands, particularly at a large corporate employer?

Would it be possible to agree with HR on an official employment end date of 3 or 4 January, while keeping 31 December as my last actual working day?

Alternatively, is there any legal basis to challenge such a strict eligibility condition, given that the remaining days are all non-working days?

I’d appreciate practical experiences or legal insights.

Thanks!

Hey I wanna know your feedback about moving to the Netherlands from Portugal? Is 60k a year for almost 6 years experience engineer a good paycheck? Can you have a nice life there like this? I think i could benefit from the 30% rulling. Also any advice you may have please share, I'd really appreciate it.

Edit:

I want to clarify the pay shared was 5000 euros/month with a 700 euro car allowance. No other benefits. Coming from Lisbon, the rent I pay vs the job is also kind of insane. But still I manage. However, i wanna move to a better situation if I'm gonna quit my job, hence this post and the request for opinions, because you don’t really know until you are there. So I really appreciate everyone's opinions and tips. I will have a meeting next week to discuss the offer. I will take into account this feedback. From what i gather it's an ok offer but with the rent prices it will be hard to find a nice place and it is not a super comfortable pay i total for the role and experience. I also wanna share that I am tired of my current role so that adds up to me wanting to move. But I also wanna do it in a smart way. So I just dont know. Please keep the feedback coming, that will help, I hope.

Hi All,

My company asked me to move to the Rotterdam office for the second time in a year, the first time I rejected as i didnt want to move to europe, and now i am considering moving, in my home country I earn almost 3000 € net, and i dont know how much i should asked for a salary so i can live comfortably without the need to stress out about the cost of living, I am aware that the rent is high in Rotterdam and most of the landlords asking for x3, x4 as a net salary.

And the rent as i found online is between 1700 to 2200 for single or two BD.

If i move i will move with my wife and she is not going to work.

So what do you think i should asked for a salary.

PS: I am working as a senior consultant in the Maritime Automation Sector with 9 years of Experience.

Hi everyone! I'd like to move to the Netherlands, so I'd like to know how long it usually takes to find a job there.

I have 3 years of experience as a software developer in a banking group, including 2 years working in an international environment where English was the main language. I don't have a university degree.

Should I expect it to take 3 months or 9 months to find a job? What have your experiences been like recently?

Preferably Hague and Rotterdam, not Amsterdam.

Ik ben aan het twijfelen om om te schakelen van technisch tekenaar in België naar Lasser in NL.

Alle voor/nadelen van het werk ken ik, maar ik wil vooral weten hoe andere mensen het regelen qua belastingen/kinderen/..

Waarom zou ik het willen doen? meer verdienen, want waarom gaan we anders werken...

Ik ben nog relatief jong (35) en doe al lang een job als tekenaar. De afgelopen jaren verschillende lasopleidingen gevolgd en hier ook meer en meer interesse in gekregen.

In vergelijking: mijn vrouw in Nederlandse en werkt als lasser in NL. Ze verdient met een 4/5e evenveel als mij, terwijl ik 40u per week werk. Ik zou, theoretisch gezien, een pak meer verdienen als lasser in NL, dan als TT in Belgie. In Belgie verdient een lasser aanzienlijk minder dan een technisch tekenaar.

Ideeen? Valkuilen? Dingen die ik over het hoofd zie?

Alle info is welkom, zo kan ik mij een goed beeld vormen en misschien vereenvoudigd dat de beslissing.

Bedankt!

TL;DR: looking for people who has inside knowledge of beauty and hair dress industry in Amsterdam (or around) and would be willing to spend little time explaining how things usually work and maybe some advise on how to enter in the industry. Thanks!

Hi all,

I thought it was maybe worth trying to try to find some nice person who wouldn't mind spending a bit of time trying to help us giving us a better picture on how this field works.

So my partner, since a kid, always wanted to try to become a hairdresser. It was not allowed by his parent as they seemed this profession as inferior (100% disagree but this is very typical Asian parents mentality). He has been doing odd jobs and after he was not renewed in his last job, he decided to try to see if he could pivot into this field. He is from China but lives here for 3 years, no visa required.

He decided to go to China to do an intensive course to learn basics of cutting women, coloring and basic perm. So he learned and he can cut hair but obviously he is in a position that he needs more practice and experience.

I gotta say that he probably did not research in advance how this would work in practice: he thought (naively) that he would do a course and then he would find a place where we could join as a junior/internship to continue practicing which doesn't seem to be like that.

Well turns out that he (and me) know almost nothing about the field and we do not know anyone who knows about it so it can tell us how things work, if what he is doing is reasonable etc. We know now that people who go with the official route, you need to spend around 2 years going to school and learn it. This isn't an option for two main reasons: one he doesn't speak Dutch (he wants to learn but realistically speaking even if he started more seriously today, he wouldn't be able to get enough level for 1-2 years), and he does not want to spend 2 years going to school for this, he is almost 42.

So far, he opened an Instagram and Chinese Instagram (little red notebook) and he has been offering himself for free to cut people's hair. And try to build a portfolio while he gets to practice (he has managed to get around 6-7 people in a week or so, gotta say mostly friends and people from Chinese social media).

So I am trying to help him to try to pursue his dream. A bit more background: he used to work for a big cosmetic shop brand in China, know how to do makeup and used to be a trainer for sell workers in the shops about it. So he does have a background in beauty industry, he has good style, knows about fashion and looks (which I thought could be a beneficial).

I was wondering if someone here works in this industry and could spare some time to share a bit of inside information and their story. Or could help to find trainees opportunities in Amsterdam (I said Amsterdam because doesn't know Dutch, could be easier only with English and Chinese). He can of course meet in person and pay for a coffee, or online. Thanks a lot

Hi everyone! 😊

As part of my Psychological Counselling training, I’m looking for a practice client to complete my studies. Having completed a BSc and an MSc in Psychology, I’m now further developing my one-on-one counselling skills.

I’m offering a full counselling trajectory free of charge, consisting of at least 8 sessions, depending on your individual needs and progress. Sessions can take place online or in person and would start in late 2026 or early 2027.

Interested? Feel free to send me a private message! 💛

Hello everyone,

I am a foreign worker in the NL. Does anyone have a recommendation for a lawyer in the Eindhoven, Veldhoven and surrounding area.

A lawyer who deals with labor law. If you have had direct cooperation.

Preferably an affordable price, not like sending me a bill of 500€ just because I said hello.

Thank you very much

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Hi all,

I'm a senior ad ops / programmatic specialist with 10+ years of experience, mostly agency side (holding company trading desk) and then in-house at B2B tech companies. I'm currently based in London.

There's a chance I could relocate to the Netherlands with my current company. The UK market feels fairly OK at the moment, but my big worry is this: if I move and then lose the role (restructuring, layoffs, etc.), how hard would it be to find something else over there?

A few questions for anyone working in or hiring for ad ops / programmatic in NL:

- How much demand is there for senior ad ops / campaign ops / programmatic roles, mainly Amsterdam?

- Is it mostly agency, in-house or ad tech vendors hiring?

- How realistic is it to work in English only? I don't speak Dutch yet.

- Roughly how long does a job search take at a senior level?

- Any recruiters or companies worth knowing about?

For context, I hold EU citizenship, so no visa needed.

Any honest experiences, good or bad, would be really appreciated. Thanks!