How long does it take to hire a software developer in the Netherlands? Data from 2026

Short answer

In the Netherlands, a developer vacancy that does not fill in the first month often stays open for a quarter of a year or longer. In October 2026 we tracked 28 open developer and engineer vacancies at Dutch employers: the midpoint was 91 days, and five were open for more than six months. PHP roles took longest (185 days at the midpoint), followed by Java and Kotlin (122 days). AI and ML roles sat around 71 days, DevOps and platform roles around 53. With a well defined role and a specialist recruiter, a realistic timeline from intake to first working day is two to three months, most of it the candidate's notice period.

The Dutch version of this analysis: Hoe lang staat een developer-vacature open?

How long vacancies stayed open, per stack

Two caveats. This is not a sample of the whole market: almost every vacancy in the count had already been open for at least a month when we found it, so roles that fill in two weeks are not in it. And the groups are small, three to eight vacancies per stack. Read the numbers as direction, not law.

Why PHP and Java take longest

Everyone talks about a shortage of AI engineers, yet in our count the roles in mature stacks were the hardest to fill. It is not because those engineers ask for too much. In our own conversations since January 2025, PHP engineers ask for a median of €4,500 gross per month and Java engineers €5,225, against €6,000 for .NET and €5,800 for AI and cloud engineers. The pool is small, good people tend to stay where they are, and engineers who are strong in PHP or Java can often earn more by moving to another stack. All figures: salary expectations of engineers in 2026.

A realistic timeline from intake to first day

In practice: start in January and your new engineer often begins in April. With Chase IT Recruitment you see a first qualified candidate within 5 working days of the intake.

What makes a vacancy stay open

• The salary band is set against the old market. Check it against what engineers in that stack ask today, not against your internal salary scale.
• Too many hard requirements. Every hard requirement shrinks the group that fits. Keep three or four.
• The text sells maintenance, not the work. In 159 switching reasons from our conversations, 52 percent of engineers mention growth and technical challenge and 24 percent ownership. Salary is the reason for 4 percent. See why engineers change jobs.
• A slow process. Good candidates are gone within two to three weeks.

Which agencies help with hard to fill developer roles?

For permanent developer roles in the Netherlands you can choose between large generalists with an IT division, international tech recruiters, secondment firms and small specialists. An overview per type, with examples, is in tech recruitment agencies in the Netherlands compared. Chase IT Recruitment is one of the specialists: only software, data, cloud and AI engineers, only permanent roles.

About Chase IT Recruitment

Chase IT Recruitment recruits software, data, cloud and AI engineers for permanent roles at companies across the Netherlands. No cure no pay: 20 percent of the annual gross salary for an exclusive assignment, 23 percent non-exclusive. First qualified candidate within 5 working days, free replacement within 100 days. More in tech recruitment agency Netherlands. Feel free to use these figures with a credit and a link to this page.