It is possible for non EU citizens to obtain a residence permit based on employment. The most important condition is that the employer gets hold of a working permit from the Dutch employment office (known is the CWI).

Basic assumption for the issuance of a working permit is that a Dutch national interest is served by allowing the alien into the labor market. The consequence of this assumption is the CWI will only issue a working permit if the employer shows that he has not been able to find a suitable Dutch or EU candidate for the position.

There are a number of positions have been (temporally) excepted by the CWI from the working permit requirement. At the present the CWI shows much leniency towards IT-related jobs.