Rotterdam – Today a job posting appeared on LinkedIn from the Municipality of Rotterdam showing that the city now employs more than 20,000 civil servants. With a population of roughly 675,000, this means Rotterdam has approximately one civil servant for every 35 residents. This puts Rotterdam in a league of its own, both nationally and internationally.
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FTEs
In terms of FTEs, the number is lower: around 14,400 FTE, as AT5 reported earlier this year based on its own research (see: moet de bezem door het ambtenarenapparaat of valt de ambtelijke obesitas wel mee.). The difference between 14,400 FTEs and more than 20,000 employees is explained by the fact that not all civil servants work full‑time.
FTE’s Explained
An FTE is a calculation unit for a full working week. Two employees working one works 16 hours, another works 20 hours. Together they work 36 hours or one FTE.
Cost Structure
The larger the gap between FTEs and the number of employees, the higher the fixed costs. Every civil servant — full‑time or part‑time — requires a workplace, laptop, transportation, training and facilities. This raises the question of whether the current size of the municipal apparatus is still sustainable.
Efficiency
Ten years ago, the Rotterdam Court of Audit examined the consequences of a major reorganisation in which 2,500 civil servants left. The conclusion was striking: no Rotterdammer seemed to notice, according to the sources below:
- Binnenlands Bestuur 2500-ambtenaren-minder-en-geen-rotterdammer-die-er-last-van
- Vers Beton aantal-ambtenaren-slechte-graadmeter-voor-kwaliteit-dienstverlening-gemeente/
Government Spending
Now that the government is urging citizens to tighten their belts, reducing municipal spending is becoming increasingly crucial for credibility and public support. A government cannot reasonably ask residents to live frugally while it continues to expand itself. The size of Rotterdam’s civil service will therefore inevitably become part of the political debate in the coming period.
Coalition Talks
The question is whether reducing the number of civil servants is a topic in the ongoing coalition negotiations led by former PvdA figure Diederik Samson. Talks between PRO, D66, VVD and DENK have now been ongoing for 56 days. Progress can be followed on the municipal page formatie nieuw college 2026–2030.
VVD Response
A spokesperson for the VVD — a party that has held power almost continuously since 1986 — stated that reducing the number of civil servants in Rotterdam was included in the party’s most recent election programme.
Editor’s Note
In the past 40 years, the VVD left the municipal executive only once, briefly, from April 2009 to March 2010, due to the appointment of Tariq Ramadan, who has since been convicted in Switzerland and France and sentenced to 18 years for rape. He worked from 2007 to 2011 as a visiting professor at Erasmus University and from 2007 to 2009 as an integration adviser for the Municipality of Rotterdam.
The municipality Rotterdam decided to sweep the matter under the rug by concluding — after international outrage — that there was no reason to investigate whether this sex offender had also committed crimes within the municipality of Rotterdam.
Amsterdam
Amsterdam, for comparison, employs 21,392 staff members (18,775 permanent and 2,607 temporary). With 942,504 residents, this equals one civil servant per 44 residents. Amsterdam has also decided, following Rotterdam’s example, to centralise all employees. In Rotterdam, the municipality rents 40,000 m² of office space in the €340 million vertical city De Rotterdam (total size 160,000 m²) by Rem Koolhaas on the Kop van Zuid. Amsterdam recently purchased the Amstelgebouw — approximately 25,000 m² — for €100 million. This 1991 building, located directly opposite the Amstel metro, train, tram and bus station, will soon house the majority of Amsterdam’s civil servants.
