The Dutch cabinet has announced plans to eliminate 25,000 full-time government positions by 2035, a workforce reduction of approximately 16 percent. The proposed cuts form part of a broader efficiency program that also envisages greater use of artificial intelligence to improve productivity.
The government is targeting cost reductions of 900 million euros by 2027, rising to 3.5 billion euros by 2035. The measures will not apply across the entire government, with police and defense excluded from the cuts.
In the first quarter of 2027, the cabinet intends to establish objectives for deploying AI more productively, alongside associated savings plans. This places expanded AI use within the government's wider effort to reduce expenditure and improve how it operates.
State Secretary Eric van der Burg outlined the broader ambition in a letter to parliament, describing a government that would be smaller, simpler and smarter. Several government sectors have already established AI initiatives, and van der Burg wants the technology to be applied more broadly.
