Economic affairs minister Micky Adriaansens has described parliament’s vote to reduce the 30% ruling, a tax break granted to some foreign workers, as worrying.

The shortage of staff is one of the main reasons that companies leave the Netherlands and this is particularly an issue in the IT and technology sectors, Adriaansens said ahead of Friday’s weekly cabinet meeting.

In addition, the measure will not only affect big companies, she said. Start-ups too will feel the impact and “this will not help in the end, nor will it help the students who want to work for such companies.”

The number of measures voted through on Thursday night which will affect the business climate – including a tax on share buybacks and an extra tax on banks – is “dramatic”, the minister said.

“So many decisions were taken which will have such an impact on the corporate sector in a short space of time,” she said. “In the end this will affect us all, as the Dutch.”

The measures will all have to be approved by the senate to become law.