Every year we survey the candidates in our network about what they actually want from a new role. This quarter we heard from over 1,500 Dutch tech professionals, and the results on remote work are more nuanced than the headlines suggest. Here is what we found — and what it means if you are hiring.
The single biggest preference across all seniority levels is hybrid work with two to three days per week in the office. This held true for 58% of respondents. Fully remote came second at 27%, almost entirely driven by senior engineers and architects who have established ways of working and do not need daily in-person collaboration. Full on-site was the preference of only 15% — mostly recent graduates and people early in their careers who value structure and mentorship.
When we broke the data down by seniority, a clear pattern emerged. Junior and medior engineers (under 5 years experience) are significantly more interested in being in the office than their senior counterparts. They cite mentorship, informal learning and visibility as key reasons. Senior engineers and architects tend to value deep focus time and have often already built strong professional networks — they need the office less and are more productive at home.
What employers are offering does not perfectly match what candidates want. We still see a notable share of job postings that require full on-site attendance, especially from more traditional enterprises. These roles are the hardest to fill in our experience — candidates actively filter them out early in their search. Companies that have moved to mandatory four or five days per week in-office report significantly longer time-to-fill and higher offer rejection rates.
The most attractive setup, based on our placement data, is a clearly communicated hybrid policy with genuine flexibility. Not 'flexible hybrid' as marketing language that turns into five days on-site once you start — candidates are wise to this and will flag it in reviews and word of mouth. Genuine flexibility means trusting engineers to manage their own time around a core of in-person collaboration.
Our recommendation to employers: be specific in your job postings. State the actual days per week in office, not vague terms. Candidates who match your policy will self-select in, and those who do not will self-select out — saving time on both sides. And if you are reconsidering your policy, the data is clear: two to three days hybrid is the sweet spot that attracts the widest pool of Dutch tech talent in 2026.