Workforce planning is not vacancy planning.
The labour market is cooling a little, but almost every occupation remains tight and the workforce keeps ageing. This white paper shows how to look three to five years ahead with the board: at numbers and skills, and at outflow before you look at recruitment.
- Why the shortage starts on the outflow side
- Six steps, from strategy to adjusting course
- A gap analysis for your critical roles
- Worksheets and a baseline quick scan for the management team
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You get right away:
The shortage in figures, six steps, six misconceptions held up against the research, a gap analysis with two scenarios, five ways to close the gap, worksheets and a baseline quick scan for the management team.
Why recruiting more does not solve the shortage.
A tight market feels like a recruitment problem. But in many boardrooms, four stubborn ideas stand in the way of a plan that looks further ahead:
Misconception 1.
People leave for the money
Salary counts, but satisfaction and commitment weigh more heavily.
Misconception 2.
After the first week, people are up to speed
People with less than a year’s service change employer almost twice as often.
Misconception 3.
When the market cools, it will sort itself out
Almost every occupation stays tight. And retirement simply continues.
Misconception 4.
This is something for big organisations
A first version works with a few critical roles, a simple balance and two scenarios.
What is in the white paper
The shortage starts on the outflow side
The same vacancy, four times in two years. And what the figures say about leaving in the first year.
What strategic workforce planning is
Six steps, the difference from vacancy planning and what research says about why people stay.
Tight stays tight
The labour market in figures, and six misconceptions about shortages held up against the research.
The gap analysis and the action plan
Make the shortfall visible with two scenarios, and choose from five ways to close the gap.
Ask, see, do, measure
Not a thick plan, but an annual rhythm with the board, from starting point to adjusting course.
Worksheets and baseline quick scan
The critical roles quadrant, the workforce balance, ten statements for the management team and three questions for yourself.
White paper: Strategic workforce planning in a tight market
- The shortage in figures, from CBS and UWV
- Six steps for strategic workforce planning
- A gap analysis with two scenarios
- Five ways to close the gap
- Worksheets and a baseline quick scan for the management team
A look inside the white paper
This is what it looks like
From the white paper
The shortage starts in the first year.
People with less than a year's service change employer almost twice as often. Every place you lose this way has to be filled again. The white paper shows why good workforce planning starts with outflow.
Download the white paperChanges employer within a quarter
Statistics Netherlands (CBS, 2025), second quarter of 2025. The first row is the same group three years earlier
Do you know why people stay, and why they are in doubt?
With Deepler you ask employees how things are going at set moments, from the first weeks to their farewell. That way you see, per team and length of service, where outflow comes from, and you choose the intervention that fits the problem.
- Outflow per team and length of service
- Signals in the first months
- Why people stay or are in doubt
Trusted by small and large
Experiences of customers who make a difference with us.
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Larren
Recruitment Lead,
De Selectie
“Recently, I used Deepler to arrive at an EVP. Great what they were able to achieve in a short time! In a period of two weeks, we collected information and were able to continue with our AMC plan. In any other situation, it takes weeks, if not months, to get this done. Contact is good, friendly and constructive. Very nice club to work with.”
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Douwe
Recruiter,
Securitas
“Ideal tool and company to gain more and better insight into the organization and employees as an organization! And especially with speed! For us, it was also the need to get tools for the topics of retention, to prevent future absenteeism or turnover. I also have experience with other parties and I sincerely value the speed of switching, follow-up and personal contact with Deepler. Absolutely recommended.”
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Jolanda
HR Business Partner,
Nedcargo
“Deepler is a great tool for continuously collecting feedback from our employees. This input is then centrally available for us as management, but also for managers who benefit from it.”
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Jonathan
Manager,
UWV
“What makes Deepler special is that it doesn’t get stuck in numbers. It helps you immediately understand where it is and what teams need. For us, this ensured that employees themselves came up with areas for improvement and took responsibility for them. The insights were sharp and useful, but most importantly: the conversation that started afterwards made the difference. Thanks to Deepler, we didn’t get a paper plan, but change that was supported by the people themselves.”
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Amadeus
COO,
OSRE
“The software has a positive impact on us as a rapidly growing organization. By better understanding what is going on in the workplace and what people offer as solutions for improvements, we can make more effective decisions. The platform helps us to gain real-time insight and to respond directly to it via the tool.”
Look beyond the next vacancy.
Download the white paper and make a plan with the board for the next three to five years.
- Start with outflow, not with recruitment
- Calculate with at least two scenarios
- Map the gap for each critical role
- Choose from five ways to close the gap
- Put workforce planning on the agenda twice a year
Download the free white paper
Straight to your inbox. No spam. No obligations.