"The aim of this paper is to study the consequences of increased labor market flexibility for young people at the beginning of their careers in the Netherlands since the mid-1980s. The emphasis is on school-leavers, since labor market entrants without any work experience are especially confronted with flexible employment in the competition for available jobs with those who have already gained a position in the labor market. The phase of labor market entry is investigated in terms of (permanent) employment opportunities and quality of work. Early career development is studied in terms of job loss and occupational status mobility. The OSA Labor Supply Panel is used for the empirical analysis. On the basis of this panel study, school-leavers have been selected who left daytime education in the period 1986-2002. The results indicate that in the Netherlands since the mid-1980s, labor market flexibility has been a successful weapon for combating youth unemployment in the sense that the opportunities for school-leavers to find a job have improved considerably, but - at the same time - it has resulted in a higher risk of having a job with a fixed-term contract, where the likelihood of overeducation and job loss is higher." (author's abstract)