Fourth STAP-budget got over in over two hours, 44,000 applications submitted: UWV

UWV (Uitvoeringsinstituut Werknemersverzekeringen), an employee insurance agency in the Netherlands, announced on Thursday, September 1, that more than 44,000 applications have been submitted for the fourth STAP counter this year, marking an increasing interest.

According to UWV, the entire STAP budget for this period got over in just over two hours. Around 12.15 pm, no budget was available, says UWV. 

“At 10 am, tens of thousands of people were ready to start the application. Within minutes, the first applications had already been submitted. Due to the peak, there were still waiting times at the start,” says UWV

“The interest in the STAP budget is again greater than the available budget in this round. We understand that people who could not apply are disappointed,” adds UWV. 

Many applicants voiced their frustration on social media after waiting for a prolonged time. Here’re some of the reactions.

According to the Dutch employee insurance agency, more than €6M extra budget was made available by the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment, bringing the total budget for this application period to €38.5M. 

Currently, the budget provides a choice of more than 110,000 courses from 1,185 different public and private trainers. The Dutch government has divided the STAP budget application period into five – every two months. 

The fourth application period is closed, and the next application period starts on November 1.

Approximately €160M has been made available this year for at least 160,000 grants, depending on the average amount of the requested STAP budget. 

From next year, the budget will be increased to €200M spread over six periods, says UWV. To reiterate, UWV implements this scheme on behalf of the government.

STAP Budget

STAP Budget is created as a stimulant to give people a better position in the labour market. 

To financially support workers and job seekers looking to advance their careers through training, the Dutch government launched a brand new scheme – STAP (Stimulation of the Labour Market Position) in March 2022. 

As a part of the scheme, workers and job seekers can apply for a STAP budget of up to €1,000/year for training and development.

However, there are several conditions for applying for a STAP budget.

• Should be between the age of 18 and the retirement age
• The training, course, or education must be in the STAP training register
• Candidates must apply at least four weeks before the training. 

If the application is approved, UWV will pay the amount to the trainer. 

Rise in unemployment

The Netherlands is one of the fastest-growing startups and scale-up hubs in Europe. However, the country is currently facing an acute shortage of tech talent. At the same time, the Netherlands is also witnessing a rise in unemployment due to various reasons. 

According to CBS.NL, unemployment rose further to 353K in July 2022 in the Netherlands, which is 3.6 percent of the labour force. From May through July, unemployment rose by an average of 12 thousand per month.

“This was due on the one hand to a higher number of job losses, on the other hand to an increasing number of people in the inactive labour force seeking or continuing to seek a job,” says the report. 

At the end of July 2022, UWV provided 157 thousand WW benefits. WW (Werkloosheidswet) is an Unemployment Act that provides temporary income to a person until they return to work.