Financial cuts will put 2.300 jobs at risk at Nederlandse Spoorwegen (NS) over the coming five years following reduced travel during the corona crisis in the Netherlands.

Cuts at NS

Plans for the future of NS were released this afternoon, revealing that the largest rail transport operator in the Netherlands is facing cuts of 1,4 billion euros. 

According to the rail company, the job losses will be across all branches and departments. The hope is that many of the required losses will come through natural attrition, as it is anticipated that between now and 2025 around 2.500 employees will retire.

1.000 jobs are expected to be lost at the NS head office. They also expect to need between 400 and 500 fewer conductors on trains in the coming years. 

The plans were shared in a letter with all 20.000 NS employees this afternoon. The members of the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board will also take a pay cut of 10 percent, with all bonuses for top-end management scrapped for 2020 and 2021.

Travelling after lockdown

The announcement comes at a time when many companies are facing the long-term effects of the coronavirus and the intelligent lockdown that came into effect in the Netherlands. Due to the coronavirus, there were significantly fewer travellers using public transport, as more people were working from home. 

As a result of the corona crisis, the NS expects to lose nearly five billion euros in turnover between 2020 and 2025. They expect people to continue to work from home more, with fewer people travelling via train well into 2021.

The NS also anticipates that the system of travelling with them will change in the future. For example, the role of the conductor will change to become a more service-oriented position.

Along with NS, Dutch airline KLM is also facing serious cuts after accepting a deal for loans from the government.