The most common route into the Netherlands for Indian professionals — and one of the best paid.
Software engineering is the single most common path for Indians moving to the Netherlands. Demand is deep across Amsterdam's product companies, Eindhoven's hardware ecosystem and a long tail of scale-ups, and almost every role is sponsored on a Highly Skilled Migrant permit. It is also one of the few professions where mid-level salaries comfortably clear the salary bar for the 30% ruling.
Junior (0–3 yrs) typically €45–60K; mid-level around €65–85K; senior and staff engineers €85–110K, with high-frequency-trading firms (Optiver, IMC) and FAANG-tier offers running well above that. Amsterdam pays a clear premium over the national figure.
On a typical €75,000gross salary for this role, Pravasi's 2026 Dutch tax engine puts take-home pay at roughly:
This figure has the 30% ruling applied — a typical €75,000 salary clears the gross the standard ruling needs (about €68,590). See the full breakdown on the €75K salary page, or run your own offer in the calculator.
The Dutch software market is broad: product and platform engineering in Amsterdam, embedded and systems work around Eindhoven, and fintech across both. English is the working language at most international employers, so Dutch is rarely required to get hired. Backend, data-platform and DevOps skills are in particularly steady demand.
Almost always sponsored on the kennismigrant (Highly Skilled Migrant) permit, which the employer applies for. The 30% ruling's salary bar — measured on taxable salary after the 30% cut — works out to roughly €68,600 gross; mid-level and senior software salaries clear it comfortably, while junior pay near €50K usually does not (under-30s with a master's qualify from about €52,100 gross). Apply for the ruling within four months of your start date.
Check your 30% ruling eligibility →The cities that matter most for this profession: