The number of vacancies offered by companies in Belgium reached its lowest level in 2.5 years at the end of 2024. There are fewer job openings especially for permanent positions.
Belgian companies offered 171,946 job vacancies in the fourth quarter of 2024. This marks a decrease of almost 5,000 vacancies or 2.7% compared to the third quarter of 2024 (176,564), according to figures published on Tuesday by Belgium's statistics agency Statbel.
"The job vacancy rate – the total number of job vacancies in relation to the total number of positions within a company – also fell from 4.21% to 4.12%," spokesperson Wendy Schelfaut said. "The average job vacancy rate for 2024 is therefore 4.27%."
This could be a sign that Belgian companies are not struggling to fill vacancies. However, a drop in vacancies can also be a sign of weakening economic growth. It also means that unemployed people are competing over fewer job openings, which can subsequently lead to rising unemployment rates.
This figure also marks the lowest since the second quarter of 2022. The number of permanent positions was nearing 185,000 at this point, while companies offered just over 29,000 temporary positions. Both figures have decreased since then.
The majority of job openings are for permanent jobs (87.41%), but the vacancy rate is much higher for temporary jobs (18.71%) than for permanent jobs (3.70%).
Regional and sectoral differences
All three of Belgium's regions experienced a decrease in the number of vacancies. This figure dropped by 3,193 in Flanders, by 728 in Wallonia and 697 in the Brussels-Capital Region compared to the third quarter of 2024.
This larger drop in Flanders can be explained by the fact that the region has the highest number of vacancies; it accounts for almost 66% of all vacancies in Belgium. This is followed by the Walloon Region with 21.70% and the Brussels-Capital Region with 12.37%.
Meanwhile, the vacancy rate also remains higher in Flanders (4.55%) than in the Walloon Region (3.50%) and in the Brussels-Capital Region (3.43%).
The sectors with the biggest drop in job openings are the 'real estate operations and trade' and 'information and communication' sectors. The figure is rising mainly in the 'other services' sector. The vacancy rate remains highest in the construction sector (6.83%) and lowest in the non-profit sector (2.84%).
When it comes to company size, there are 4.33 times more vacancies in large and medium-sized companies than in small companies. However, the vacancy rate in small enterprises (6.42%) is almost double that of the rate in large and medium-sized enterprises (3.80%).
