Staff vacancies at Dutch web shops generally require better levels of education than at traditional high street retailers, according to research by state jobs agency UWV involving five of the Netherlands’ biggest online shops.

Two-thirds of the vacancies on offer at the web shops were for people with high-end trade or college qualifications, compared with one-third of the jobs available at ordinary retailers.

In particular web retailers are trying to recruit administrative staff and IT specialists such as data analysts and developers, the UWV said.

In addition, web shops find it hard to recruit sufficient low-skilled logistics staff, the UWV said. This is partly down to the sector’s poor image with heavy physical work and irregular hours.

The UWV said the number of people working for online retailers has risen from  38,000 to 62,000 over the past four years.