Home care sector in crisis, biggest agency on verge of going bust
The Netherlands’ biggest home care agency, with 12,000 workers and 40,000 clients, is on the verge of bankruptcy.
TSN Thuiszorg applied for court protection from creditors on Friday, blaming government spending cuts for its troubles.
Earlier this month, the courts ruled that TSN could not cut the wages of its workers by between 20% and 30%, which the company said it needed to do to make ends meet.
‘It costs us €27 a hour to employ someone but councils will only pay €21 an hour,’ director Zion Jongstra told a news conference. ‘We cannot keep this up.’
The entire home care sector is in a similar situation, Jongstra said. Home care agencies provide cleaning, light nursing and other tasks for the frail elderly and housebound.
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