The Truth About Working in the Netherlands as an American

Welke prutser heeft die verwarmingsbuizen zo scheef vastgemaakt?

The no-screen policy of cafe and coffee place owners is a reaction to the development of the last ten to fifteen years. Back then it was totally normal and accepted to work in a cafe or coffee place, but in some places it got so bad that you only saw laptops and quiet people drinking one or two coffees per day. So it’s understandable that they are taking back control and have been (mostly) banning people with laptops. I used to work a lot in those places, so I had to find alternatives as well. What I found is that libraries offer free work places (with additional services, like maybe a meeting room or printing services). It’s a bit less crowded than a cafe, but I find that I get just enough distractions to make it interesting. Also, special work “hotels” or similar places have been created for working remotely. I tend to work one or two days from home, one at a library, one from the office and then a fifth day I split up between sneaking in a few hours at a cafe, or even a store restaurant (like HEMA, or IKEA).

Btw, don’t you just love the beginning of fall in the Netherlands? Like those red/brown leaves and the beautiful mushrooms behind you. And the smell! I love it.

The ikea in Amersfoort has some pretty nice spots to work with outlets. I usually go there if I don’t feel like going to my regular office. You can also pay for a coworking space.

Muricans should learn the difference between "working extreme long days" and being efficient.

And for some strange reason you make me fantasize of a 9 volt battery, ;-).

I don't know Amersfoort very well. Here in Amsterdam there are plenty of places that also cater to people working on their laptops. And public libraries are also pretty OK for this. And then there are places like WeWork, where you can pay a small fee for a work spot.

It's misconception that taxes are higher in The Netherlands than in the USA. As self-employed / free lancer / non-citizen i wouldn't know. But as a Dutch citizen working for a boss vs an American Citizen employed in the U.S. up until about 50k a year you pay less tax in The Netherlands, above 50k you pay less tax in the U.S. Especially if you have a low wage, like working full time for minimum wage, you pay a lot less tax in The Netherlands. And this is even not taking into account that people with lower incomes get compensated by the Tax-office for instance at min, wage you get compensated for health insurance and your health insurance (that covers almost everything) cost you €10-15 a month, effectively. People who rent a house also get compensated.

There are "work Cafe's" where you can work, but yeah, not every cafe likes to have people setting up a 'work station' and keep a table occupied all day.. That is just lost revenue for them,, Instead of selling 5 or 6 cappucinos, they can sell only one to you, maybe two.

I ussualy work remote from home but since i work with privillged client info i can't work in a public space so going to a cafe and work there is a big nono for me. As in generale i totally agre that you shouldn't be allowed to work or look at your screen in a a normale cafe it ruins the vibe of a place. Now can there be specialist combi places where you can? sure as long as it isn't in the place i visite to relax after work.

Look on the web where remote working places are. Some cafés, bars and bistro's are on the web promoting themselves for digital nomads. Like, in The Hague the municipality itself has a dedicated webpage where such places are. According to the municipality theater Amare promotes their bistro as an excellent working spot for remote workers. And some places are dedicated spaces for remote workers where you can rent desk space for around 20 to 35 euro's per day. Including all kinds of facilities, like great WIFI, tea, coffee, bathrooms,. And a chance to meet other digital nomads for networking purposes.

public establishments are not your work office or your personal office . GET THE HELL OUT !!!! GO HOME !!!! if not , just buy and pay for coffee and a snack , finish it in less then 15 minuts and '' GET OUT !!!!

work ? you mean you signt up for '' OF '' XD

Check out seats2meet, that might be what you’re looking for

As you already stated road maintenance in the us. Would love to hear your take on infrastructure and the likes. Also love your vibe. Needed more cats this video tho! :p

Go to the big 4. Den Haag, Utrecht, Amsterdam en Rotterdam. You will have a lot of places where you can bring the laptop to a café😊

Very often you can find shared working spaces at the railway station, or public libraries

No, we don’t ask you what kind of work you do and we don’t ask you how much money you make.

please go back to africa we dont want you here

In Holland we have several brands that hire flex workspaces on hotspots. Like seats2meet above the main hall of Amersfoort central station

Our taxes also go to the maintenance of the dykes.
Something quit important in our below sealevel land.

About taxes, it only it increases happiness; you actually live cheaper if you count all stuff the Dutch government pays for. Especially healthcare, but also a lot of other programs, education, childcare, etc.

If you calculate your expenses it suddenly changes a lot :)

Try a library or big cafes that mostly allow it.

You can work (for free) at the following locations in Amersfoort: Seats2meat (at the trainstation), De Observant, Bindi Cafe, Centraal Ketelhuis, Hoog Vuur and the by other named Library at the Eemplein to name a few.

I'm SO glad I found your channel! I've been really thinking about the Netherlands for several months now, and finding your channel has been amazing! Please keep making more videos about your experiences! I'm off to binge the rest of your videos now haha

I'm a Dutch person who works from home every day. I don't miss the cafés, because my work day is only 8 hours, so I have enough time to socialize after work.

I do pretty much 9-1. Take a 1hr break to walk my dog, talk to some people in the (dog) park and do 2-6 for the other half of the day. After that I can get dinner at a bar or restaurant. Or I eat at home and I leave the house around 8 for some socializing if I want to. More than enough time for that, so I don't feel like I need to work in a public place.

Did i really hear her say, as an office worker i never really liked working in offices, seriously.

It's absolutely incredible that you don't understand that there is time to work and time to live.

The biggest difference between dutch employees they work during working hours. Americans like to be at work but like you said socializing with people in a cafe is also working.

Hello Boomdoze, I can see if you can work at my place...

Please, dont promote NL in the USA. We have enough and pretty much no "American" here learns Dutch. P.s. you are not an American, you are a person from the USA, America is not a country nor a place
, you can say the Americas but that would refer to the a huge region.

Coffee company is a chain that always allows laptops, and usually has a nice number of outlets as well. I'm not sure if they have locations in amersfort. Anne & Max usually allows laptops as well, but personally don't love their menu options. Finding a cafe to work from on US hours will be very difficult though as most cafes in the Netherlands close at around 1700 or 1800.

As an employer, I wouldn't really appreciate you exposing my company's interna to randos (or worse) in a public space. That would be a complete security nono

In the netherlands we have a saying. “ we work to live, we do not live to work”.

My favorite bar/ cafe in Amersfoort is tjommies :) you can totally work there

I can understand that not every cafe want to have his place full of laptop zombies.
It scares recreational visitors off. And there are dedicated cafes for workers

There is a significant difference between US and the Netherlands where is about work. In the US you live to work. In the Netherlands you work to live. Besides that the infrastructure is far better. Social and health services are much much better. Working in a café is not done. Do not go ever to a coffeeshop in the Netherlands. A coffeeshop has a whole other meaning than it has in the US

They probably don't allow working in some cafes because those customers keep an entire table occupied, it looks less inviting for other customers and working customers tend to spend less. So it's bad for the bottom line.

If you sit down somewhere in off-hours, I highly doubt any place would actually kick you out.

dont come to hollland , from other countries to work here coz it really sucks, there NO chances of u finding a job, specially if u are not profecinally skilled worker, also they prefer there younger ppl as workers coz they pay them less , coz of the age
good luck

You cannot take the place taking for a long time. The cafe's like to welcome new customers at the table you are taking. Those tables are meant to been taking all day by different people. So the cafe can sell a lot of coffee and lekkers, not just that only of secend cup you will buy in one morning f.e.

I'm Dutch and I don't go to a cafe where people work. Cafes are for socializing, it's not an office.
I don.t like it when it looks like an office. Also the owner doesn't make money because the workers don.t spend as much as regular customers. I don.t go to places where people work.

In Amersfoort there are lots of coffee bars where you work on your laptop. Around de central station, Bagel & Beans, Het Lokaal, other bars in de Langestraat, Observant, Kade Café, et cetera

Your way of thinking about things is similar to mine. I suggest you stay there as long as you can. 😊

The most hateful question is "what do you do for work" for sure if it is the first one..🤣 Not what do you do but who are you..

That's weird 😮 in emiclair there are plenty.

Nice video. No, taxes are not going to good use in the Netherlands. The country is very good at pretending that they are, but it's extremely corrupt at the higher levels. A little bit of serious research, outside our comfortable thinking space, and no... no way we want to be paying taxes to this little elite, or even to gemeente. And it's not even incompetence, it's willfully wasting it, fully conscious of all the little schemes, ripping off obedient civilians. And I'm afraid I do pay it, just like you, because they're gonna get after you right? For an average American it's easier to get around it, pay very little or just refuse it altogether. America is substantially freeer.

So when u zig zag in Chicago u can get a ticket?

Sad to hear that cafes doesn’t allow customers to work on their laptop. I used to enjoy working on my laptop while enjoying my fav. coffee and chill cafe vibe in England ❤

People in the Netherlands work to live. They don't live to work

In Amersfoort, you can rent a desk for a day in some places meant to meat and work. Also have a look at Coffee Corazon in the Krommestraat or seets2meat at the station.