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The Knowledge Migrant of the Future Doesn't Always Have to Relocate
Professor Maarten Steinbuch, PhD
Originally published by Het Financieele Dagblad (FD). Republished on the WorldEmp website with permission.
The Dutch government deserves credit for its new Talent Strategy. Recently, Het Financieele Dagblad reported that the government is stepping up its international search for highly skilled professionals in sectors such as AI, biotechnology, and high-tech. That decision is both realistic and necessary.
The Netherlands can only maintain its innovative strength if we have enough engineers, software developers, AI specialists, and other knowledge workers. Our population is ageing, demand for technical talent continues to grow, and in regions such as Brainport Eindhoven, talent shortages have become structural. Making international talent a central part of the solution is therefore a sensible move.
Through my work at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), I have spent many years promoting engineering education to encourage more Dutch students to pursue technical careers. We must continue doing so. But that alone will not be enough. At the same time, our technical universities are working hard to attract more international students through initiatives such as the Beethoven Plan.
However, it is also time to look beyond the traditional model of the knowledge migrant: someone who packs their bags, relocates to the Netherlands, and builds a life and career here. That model will remain important, but it will not be enough to satisfy the growing demand for knowledge workers.
In the high-tech industry alone, shortages already number in the tens of thousands. Meanwhile, more and more countries are competing for the same global talent pool. Physical migration also has its limits. Housing remains scarce, pressure on infrastructure, healthcare, and education continues to rise, and not every highly skilled professional is willing—or able—to relocate to the Netherlands.
Talent Doesn't Always Have to Relocate
The real question is therefore not only how we bring more engineers and AI specialists to the Netherlands. It is also: how do we bring Dutch companies closer to global talent?
To put this into perspective, India graduates more than one million engineers every year, while China produces even more.
We continuously innovate our products, machines, and technologies. Perhaps it is time to innovate the way we organise work as well.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, organisations discovered—out of necessity—that high-quality collaboration across distances works remarkably well. Employees proved they could work just as effectively from home or from another country as they could from the office. What started as an emergency solution has now become a normal part of business operations for many companies.
That experience presents opportunities we have yet to fully embrace.
Rather than focusing exclusively on bringing people to the Netherlands, we can also bring knowledge to the Netherlands digitally. Dutch companies can integrate highly skilled international professionals into their teams on a long-term basis without requiring physical relocation. Modern technology has made collaboration, knowledge sharing, and team integration easier than ever before.
In effect, this creates a digital knowledge migrant.
Smarter Than Opening Your Own Office Abroad
This approach also offers an attractive alternative to a trend we've seen in recent years. Increasingly, Dutch companies have been opening offices abroad to gain access to specialised expertise and technical talent. While this can be successful, it requires significant investment, local management, and organisational complexity.
For many businesses—particularly small and medium-sized enterprises—this simply isn't a realistic option.
A model in which international professionals become a direct part of Dutch teams, without first establishing an entire foreign organisation, is often faster, more flexible, and far easier to scale.
A few years ago, driven by growing concerns about talent shortages, I joined the Advisory Board of WorldEmp, a company that has successfully put this model into practice. Through that experience, I have seen firsthand how highly educated professionals can become fully integrated members of Dutch teams without having to emigrate.
Another model is used by Smart Way Engineering. The company deploys a limited number of professionals on-site with clients in the Netherlands to gather project requirements, while detailed engineering work is carried out in countries such as India. This type of outsourcing also contributes to our economic development by leveraging the vast number of highly skilled professionals available in other parts of the world.
Both models offer several advantages.
Companies gain faster access to scarce expertise. Pressure on the Dutch housing market and public services is reduced. At the same time, organisations gain access to a much larger international talent pool, particularly in the fields where shortages are most severe.
Retaining Knowledge Even After People Return Home
Perhaps even more interesting is another application of this idea.
The thought occurred to me because of the considerable effort universities make to retain international students for the Dutch economy.
Knowledge migrants—and fortunately many international master's graduates—come to the Netherlands, join Dutch companies, develop valuable expertise, and become deeply familiar with our way of working. Yet after several years, many decide to return to their home countries. That is entirely understandable.
Economically, however, we often lose valuable expertise in the process. After all, Dutch society has also invested in educating many of these professionals.
So why should we sever those connections?
Thanks to modern digital collaboration, these professionals can continue contributing to Dutch organisations even after returning home. Their expertise, experience, and networks remain available, while they themselves gain the freedom to return to family or begin a new phase of life.
This is not only attractive for employees—it is equally valuable for employers seeking to retain scarce expertise.
In fact, I see this as the logical next step in the evolution of knowledge migration.
Physical migration and digital collaboration should not replace one another—they should reinforce one another.
Those who wish to build a life in the Netherlands should continue to have every opportunity to do so. But those who prefer to return home after a few years, or work remotely from their own country, can still make a meaningful contribution to Dutch companies through today's technology.
The Next Step in the Dutch Talent Strategy
Innovation is rarely just about technology.
More often, it is about having the courage to rethink existing models.
The government's Talent Strategy shows that the Netherlands is willing to look ahead. Let's extend that ambition further.
Knowledge migrants who choose to settle in the Netherlands will remain indispensable to our economy. But in a digital world, the knowledge migrant of the future does not always need to physically relocate to contribute to Dutch innovation and economic growth. Nor should every Dutch company have to establish offices on the other side of the world to access global expertise.
If we truly want to compete for the world's best knowledge workers, we must do more than recruit smarter. We must also organise work more intelligently. That is where the next step lies for the Netherlands as an innovative knowledge economy.
