The balance between security and flexibility lies at the heart of employment law. In an era of ‘excessive flexibility’ and a fluctuating globalised economy, is it necessary to adjust that balance? Paul Zevenbergen is conducting research into the balance in employment law between employees’ need for security on the one hand and employers’ need for flexibility on the other. Could this balance be adjusted by making permanent contracts more flexible?

Paul Zevenbergen has been a PhD candidate at the University of Amsterdam since 2026. His research focuses on the question: ‘How fixed is the permanent contract?’. In doing so, he analyses the possibilities for dealing with permanent employment flexibly. This is also referred to as 'internal flexibility'. To answer the question of how that flexibility can be structured within the permanent employment contract, he analyses (among other things) the scope that employment law offers employers to apply terms and conditions of employment flexibly, the role played by collective labour agreements in this regard, and how current dismissal law relates to the flexibility of businesses.

Before Paul began his PhD research, he completed his Bachelor’s degree in Law at Utrecht Law College in 2024 and went on to complete a Master’s degree in Employment Law and the Academic Excellence Track at the University of Amsterdam in 2025.