3 important things to know about Amsterdam tech jobs growth scene during the pandemic

As lockdown restrictions ease in a phased manner, life in Amsterdam is now heading towards a ‘new normal’. The economy was heavily impacted due to the coronavirus. As a result, some sectors observed increased demands while others were negatively impacted. Tech companies are a huge chunk in Amsterdam’s job economy and a new report by Dealroom.co, commissioned by StartupAmsterdam, offers remarkable insight into it. Tech companies in Amsterdam provide 14% of jobs to the city’s economy and here’s how they were impacted by the coronavirus. 

3rd edition of Amsterdam tech companies jobs report

Before we dive in, we feel it’s pertinent to know some important details about the new report. This article is based upon the findings from the third edition of the Amsterdam startup jobs report. This edition covers data from December 2016 to December 2019 and is aimed at helping one understand how startups contribute to job growth in Amsterdam and the composition of the startup job market. 

How many and what kind of jobs are at most risk due to the coronavirus? Which sectors are the most heavily impacted by the coronavirus? Which ones are least affected? These are some of the questions this report answers. Early analysis by the report indicates that roughly 30% of startup jobs and 24% of startups are in areas most affected by COVID-19. So, here are the three most vital insights from the report. 

Small and mid-sized companies create about 70% of tech jobs

Contrary to what one might think, big tech companies like Booking.com, Takeaway, Adyen and more are not the biggest job providers in Amsterdam. While these companies might be in the limelight, the top ten employers provided only 26% of jobs, even though they represent 85% of combined valuations. This means almost 70% of jobs are provided by mid and small startups, which comprise of merely 15% of the combined market capitalisation. These include Dutch startups like Swapfiets, Convious, Hiber and more.

30% jobs in areas most affected by COVID-19

In the past few months, we’ve all come across news about companies being impacted by COVID-19. The report by Dealroom and Startup Amsterdam gives us a deeper insight on which sectors were impacted, and in what way. As per the report, about 30% of jobs, and 24% of startups fall in areas most affected by COVID-19. These sectors include travel, recruitment, event tech, and marketing, and host around 12,500 jobs.

There are also sectors, which benefited from increased digital adoption during the lockdown. Digital health, gaming, food and e-commerce are some of the sectors that fall under this category, which offer 19% of jobs in Amsterdam’s tech scene. Furthermore, there are 52% of jobs that fall under the defensible or short-term impact category. These include education, cleantech, fintech, enterprise software, hosting, mobility, cybersecurity and proptech. 

Tech sectors which prospered during lockdown 

Offering greater insight, the 3rd edition of the Amsterdam tech companies jobs report also specifies some companies and sectors that did well during lockdown. The Amsterdam-based startup Picnic is an online grocer, which saw increased demand in its services. With people observing lockdown and practising self-isolation, there was a rapid growth in online grocers and this is expected to be a structural shift in behaviour. Similarly, Takeaway.com witnessed a surge in its food delivery service as people shift from eating outdoors to home deliveries. 

With social distancing being the new norm, people are consciously opting for contactless payments. The well-known retail payments platform Adyen also observed some positive impact The company’s shares went up by 17% since January 31. Similarly, BinckBank and Flow Traders operate in sectors that benefit from volatility .Gaming is a great activity to keep oneself busy indoors and this was reflected by a positive impact on Guerrilla Games studio, which Sony acquired back in 2005. 

Another notable impact was observed by Fietsenwinkel, the online and offline bicycle shop. There is a surge in bicycle sales, which can be a result of social distancing. This could be attributed to the fact that people will be cautious using the public transportation system and cars just don’t really cut it in Amsterdam. The obvious and environment-friendly choice here is a bicycle, which is also a great way to be safe during commutes.

Image credits: Yasonya/Shutterstock 

This article is produced in collaboration with StartupAmsterdam. Read more about our partnering opportunities.