Dutch Plan 25,000 Civil Service Job Cuts With AI

The Dutch cabinet expects about 25,000 fewer full-time central government posts, roughly 16% of the total, according to a report published by technology.org dated 29 October 2026. The reduction is attached to savings of €900 million in 2027, rising to €3.5 billion a year from 2035.

The report states that AI is one tool among several in the plan, alongside standard IT systems, simpler rules and fewer advisory bodies. It says concrete AI targets will follow in the first quarter of 2027. Police and defence are exempt from the reductions, according to the report.

The report places the savings on a rising path through 2035 while the specific AI targets are to be set later, in the first quarter of 2027. The accompanying measures — standard IT systems, simpler rules and fewer advisory bodies — are listed as part of the same package as the use of AI, rather than AI being presented as the sole means of reducing posts. The 25,000 figure is given as a reduction in full-time posts equivalent to about 16% of central government employment. The savings are expressed as annual figures rather than cumulative totals. The report does not set out which functions account for the reduction beyond the exemption for police and defence, and it does not attach a figure to the share of the savings expected to come from AI specifically.