Dutch government plans to cut 25,000 jobs in AI-led overhaul, eventually saving $5b a year

• The Dutch government plans to cut 25,000 civil servant jobs through an AI-led overhaul, aiming to save €900 million a year by 2027 and €3.5 billion by 2035.
• State Secretary Eric van den Burg said the state must be “simpler, smarter, and smaller”. The Cabinet will present AI plans early next year.
• Ministries, inspectorates and agencies will be hit hardest, while police and defence are exempt. The cuts link to a drive to remove 500 rules a year and use Dutch and European suppliers.

The Dutch government aims to cut 25,000 civil servant jobs in an AI-led efficiency drive targeting annual savings of €3.5 billion (S$5 billion).

The central government wants to save €900 million a year by 2027, rising to €3.5 billion from 2035. That amounts to around 25,000 jobs, spread over several years, according to a government statement on Oct 26. The Cabinet will present plans for deploying artificial intelligence to work more productively early next year. 

“We cannot keep doing what we have been doing,” State Secretary for Effective Government Eric van den Burg said. “That is why we are going to make tough choices for a central government that really works: simpler, smarter, and smaller.”

The number of government officials surged to a record 160,000 at the end of 2025, up 41% compared to 2018, despite pledges by previous Cabinets to scale back headcount. 

The Dutch government Budget deficit is already one of the smallest in the European Union. Yet the figure and its long-term outlook still raise concerns in the Netherlands, which has a reputation for being fiscally conservative. 

The cuts will not hit equally hard everywhere, with police and defence among exempted areas. 

Ministries, inspectorates and implementing agencies will be most impacted, according to a letter van den Burg sent to Parliament. Departments there could face “significant staffing implications” of reductions of 45% or even 60%.

Van den Burg emphasised that the reductions go hand-in-hand with government ambitions to cut red tape. Its flagship programme to scrap 500 unnecessary or overly bureaucratic rules per year should make the organisation “fundamentally more simple” and lessen the need for more staff.

Promising technological developments are also paving the way for fewer external hires and a smaller administration. Various AI-initiatives have already been launched in recent years across different parts of the government and the goal is to “apply AI even more broadly” to increase productivity, van den Burg says.

He cited a string of non-binding motions passed by Parliament calling on the Cabinet to increase government productivity by 20% through AI as a reason for the cuts. He also said that push aims to work as much as possible with Dutch and European suppliers to avoid getting dependent on non-European technology. BLOOMBERG