Fact 1: There is a skills shortage in the Netherlands and recruitment agencies and companies are looking to foreign nationals to fill the human resource gaps.

The trip back 'home' gives expats plenty of thinking time

Fact 3: The period immediately following a home leave period — for instance, after the Christmas break — is a vulnerable time for the expat. This is a key moment for HR managers to take active measures to ensure the long-term success of the expatriate assignment.

For many expats, the Christmas holiday is an ideal opportunity to take a break from being a foreigner and sink back into a known and trusted environment.

Especially for those who are in their first few years of a new posting, this opportunity to 'get away' can have a critical impact on an expatriate's commitment to a life and career in the Netherlands.

Home leave can generate contradictory sets of emotions: happiness that comes from being 'home' in a familiar environment and the discomfort that comes from realising that home is not quite what it used to be.

On holiday back home, expats will once again find themselves in a situation where they 'fit in'; they are with friends and family, they know how things work and feel they belong.

This can be a time when they become aware of just how difficult the adaptation process to life in the Netherlands is and how alienated they feel.

These realisations may lead them to focus on the good qualities of their home country which they sorely miss.

On the other hand, home leave can also be a stressful occasion. Expats may find that life back home is not quite as they remembered it, that they no longer 'fit' as well as they used to.

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