Companies in Amsterdam employing large numbers of international workers will have to do more to ensure their staff become “Amsterdammers” by offering them language, culture, and history lessons, if a motion drawn up by the city’s PvdA party is backed by councillors.

The motion also suggests that big companies with large international workforces could invest in social housing as a way of helping to solve the city’s housing crisis, as ASML has done in Eindhoven.

The plan, launched a year ago by PvdA councillor Lian Heinhuis, would include language lessons, an introduction to sports and other clubs, an introduction to volunteering, and lessons about the city’s history, culture, and traditions.

Companies would be asked to “commit” to ensuring that “this group of new Amsterdammers successfully complete the programme”.

The aim, Heinhuis told Dutch News, is to make sure everyone is involved in the city and that different groups get to meet each other.

“We are living increasingly separate lives,” she said. “And research shows that people feel more at home if they speak the language. Internationals often tell me that Amsterdam and the Netherlands is not the easiest place to land and meet people.

“Amsterdammers are also quick to say expats don’t want to be involved, and I don’t think that is true,” she said. “But this is why it is good for the city and businesses to facilitate this. We want companies to do more for their international workers.”

New arrivals now account for some 16% of the city’s population, and expats are currently being blamed for the shortage of housing, high rents, and the increasing dominance of English in shops and cafés.

Research by local broadcaster AT5 has suggested 71% of the native population believe expats are ignoring Dutch society, don’t speak Dutch, and do not make an effort to get to know their neighbours. And in 2023, the city’s mayor Femke Halsema called on expats to “get out of their bubble” and become part of the local community.

However, other statistics show internationals do get involved, take part in neighbourhood events, send their children to local schools and volunteer.

Scapegoats

“We should be careful about making expats the symbol of things going wrong in the city,” said D66 councillor Erik Schmit. D66 is part of the city’s ruling coalition.

“We should not blame the lack of social cohesion in the city and the housing crisis on international workers. Research shows clearly it is not their fault, and it is wrong to suggest that expats are not integrating.”

Discrimination is a problem facing many of the Netherlands’ international residents, whether or not they have lived in the country for years and whether or not they speak Dutch, according to the results of a Dutch News survey last year.

Just under half the respondents said they had personally experienced racism or discrimination in the Netherlands, and 43% said they had witnessed an instance of racial discrimination.

Note: The vote was originally scheduled for Wednesday, but Heinhuis told Dutch News on Tuesday evening it has been delayed to allow for more amendments to the motion.