Over three-quarters of the 187 staffing agencies approached by two VU university researchers agreed to a request not to supply Moroccan, Turkish and Surinamese candidates, the Volkskrant reports on Wednesday.

Sociology students Evelien Loeters and Anne Backer approached the agencies looking for staff for a non-existent call centre. During each phone call they said to the agency: ‘It’s a little awkward to ask this but I’d rather not have any Moroccans (or Turks or Surinamese) even if they speak fine Dutch’.
In 77% of cases, the agency agreed to the request. Large agencies with multiple branches were less likely to comply. In a further 13 cases, the agencies offered to supply the researchers with a list so they could choose the names themselves.
Sector organisations ABU and NBBU told the paper they are shocked at the results of the research and plan to invest more time in extra training sessions and information provision for their members.