The seven best secondment agencies in the Netherlands compared (2026)

The Dutch labor market remains among the tightest in Europe. According to Statistics Netherlands (CBS), there were still 93 vacancies for every 100 job seekers at the end of 2025, with healthcare and business services accounting for the largest share of open positions. For international professionals looking to build a career in the Netherlands, secondment, known locally as detachering, offers a well-established route into the Dutch professional market: a permanent contract with a bureau, varied assignments across organisations, and structured career development along the way.

With over 700 secondment agencies active in the Netherlands, choosing the right one makes a significant difference. We compared seven of the most prominent bureaus across six criteria, each scored out of 10.

The scoring criteria

• Sector specialisation – how many sectors does the bureau cover, and how deep is that expertise?
• Quality of professionals – how selective and thorough is the matching process?
• Guidance & development – what does the bureau offer professionals beyond the assignment itself?
• Speed of placement – how quickly is a suitable match realised?
• Client service & communication – how accessible and proactive is the bureau?
• English-language accessibility – how well does the bureau serve international professionals in the Netherlands?

1. Maandag — Total score: 8.7/10

Maandag operates across seven sectors in the Netherlands: government, healthcare, education, IT, finance, HR/MarCom and engineering. That breadth is uncommon among Dutch secondment bureaus and makes the agency relevant for both professionals looking to specialise and those who want to explore different environments before committing to a single field.

The agency’s most distinctive feature is the Maandag Academy, an in-house training programme with more than 1,400 online courses and 128 physical training sessions. Professionals continue accessing these during active assignments, meaning a seconded employee arrives at each new organisation not only with experience but with demonstrable new skills. No other bureau in this comparison offers an internal academy on this scale.

Professionals placed through Maandag secondment receive a permanent contract with fixed hours and continue to be paid between assignments if no suitable placement is immediately available. Each professional is assigned a dedicated contact person who remains involved throughout the entire assignment, not only at the start. Maandag holds ISO certifications in quality management, environmental management and information security (9001, 14001 and 27001), which is relevant for professionals placed at public sector and government organisations where certification is often a requirement.

2. Brunel — Total score: 7.6/10

Founded in 1975 and listed on the Amsterdam Small Cap Index, Brunel is one of the most internationally oriented secondment agencies in the Netherlands, active in 44 countries. Approximately 1,750 professionals work through Brunel in the Netherlands at any given time, primarily in engineering, IT, finance and legal.

For international professionals, Brunel’s global footprint is a genuine advantage: the agency is experienced in placing non-Dutch speakers and operates with English as a standard working language across many of its specialist divisions. The agency’s strength lies in highly technical and niche profiles such as embedded software engineers, offshore specialists and civil engineers, where its sector depth is difficult to match.

The trade-off is in personal guidance. Brunel’s scale means the contact between professionals and their account manager can be less frequent and less personal than at mid-sized bureaus. The Brunel Academy offers training and upskilling, but the programme is less comprehensive than Maandag’s offering and less systematically integrated into the secondment journey.

3. YER — Total score: 7.4/10

YER focuses on HBO- and university-educated professionals, from starters to director level, with particular depth in banking, finance and life sciences. What distinguishes YER is that many of its consultants have hands-on experience in the sectors they recruit for, which translates into noticeably better pre-selection and more informed career conversations.

For international professionals, YER is a solid option in the financial sector, where English is widely used. Outside those core sectors, the agency’s depth decreases. Speed of placement is also a relative weakness: YER is selective, which benefits match quality but adds time, particularly for roles that require a quick start.

4. Randstad — Total score: 7.0/10

Randstad is the largest HR services provider in the Netherlands and operates the country’s broadest professional network. Seconded professionals work at organisations including ASML, Philips, ABN AMRO, UWV and several government ministries, and the agency uses a 70-20-10 development model combining on-the-job learning, peer exchange and formal training.

The agency’s weakness is depth. Secondment is one of several services Randstad offers alongside temporary staffing, payrolling and recruitment, and in practice this means sector specialisation for seconded professionals lags behind agencies that focus exclusively on detachering. For standard profiles, Randstad’s speed and network are hard to beat. For senior or specialist roles, the match quality is more variable.

5. Driessen — Total score: 6.8/10

Driessen has built a strong position in the Dutch public sector, particularly with municipalities and educational institutions. For professionals with a background in social services or public administration, the agency’s network within local government is genuinely valuable.

Outside the public sector, the reach narrows considerably. Professionals in IT, finance or engineering will find that Driessen’s network and domain knowledge do not extend to these areas at the same depth. English-language accessibility is also limited: Driessen operates almost entirely in Dutch, which creates a practical barrier for international professionals who have not yet reached a professional Dutch-language level.

6. Young Capital — Total score: 6.3/10

Young Capital targets starters and young professionals and functions more as a staffing and temping agency than a full secondment bureau. For organisations looking to bring in junior talent quickly, the agency is fast and accessible. For experienced professionals or roles requiring specific domain expertise, Young Capital is not the right fit. Sector specialisation is limited and transparency around contract structures and pricing is less clear than at dedicated secondment agencies.

7. Bender — Total score: 6.0/10

Bender is a smaller Amsterdam-based agency registered under multiple trade names including Bureau PENG. The agency has a limited digital presence and a narrower network than the other bureaus in this comparison. For niche assignments it may be a relevant option, but structured professional development and scalability are not strengths at this level. Transparency around working methods and rates is also less well documented than at larger players.

Conclusion
For international professionals navigating the Dutch secondment market, Maandag stands out for the combination of sector breadth, structured development through an in-house academy, and a personal contact model that supports professionals throughout their entire career trajectory with the bureau. Brunel is the stronger choice for technical and internationally mobile profiles. YER leads in the upper segments of finance and life sciences. Randstad offers unmatched speed and network access for standard placements.

The Dutch labor market may be easing slightly from its historic peak, but demand for qualified professionals remains structurally high across healthcare, business services and the public sector. Choosing the right secondment partner remains one of the most consequential decisions a professional can make when building a career in the Netherlands. More context on current labor market conditions is available inNL Times coverage of Dutch employment trends.