The Belgian labour market experienced an “unprecedented” recovery in 2021, according to a report from the HIVA Institute of KU Leuven, done in collaboration with the NSSO (National Social Security Office) and the country’s three regions.
Their report analysed the inflow and outflow of people into and out of the labour market and found that the education and temporary work sectors in particular saw a strong increase in recruitment in 2021.
At the same time, few people are changing jobs, meaning there is still no recovery in job-to-job transitions.
Researchers say this lack of job transitions sheds new light on the high vacancy rate and shortage in the labour market.
Employed people hesitant to leave current jobs
“This is not what we expect in these circumstances. Workers are still cautious about changing jobs,” explained professors Ludo Struyven and Tim Goesaert (HIVA, KU Leuven).
“Employers are avoiding layoffs with the help of temporary unemployment and other support measures. It could be that employers are doing everything possible to keep people on board because there was already a shortage in certain sectors before the start of the coronavirus crisis."
Job transitions (the ones that follow directly on from each other, without an intermediate step of unemployment) are usually more common during an economic recovery, where more mobility is expected in the labour market.
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Such changes are a powerful driver for filling vacancies, the researchers say, as previous studies have shown that more than half of all hires are workers who come directly from a previous employer.
Some exceptions to the rule – in other words, sectors with a slight upturn in job transitions – include agriculture, construction, IT, real estate, science and education.
Optimism regarding the unemployed
“Another ray of hope in this study is that we are again seeing more people entering the labour market from a non-working position, albeit mainly in short-term jobs with irregular hours,” the researchers said.
The strong recovery of the labour market coincided with the lifting of many coronavirus restrictions. Some 93,000 net new jobs have been created.
“This is the highest level ever achieved since our measurements began in 2006,” said Struyven. “It is even higher than during the economic boom that preceded the financial crisis of 2008-2009.”
There are regional differences when it comes to the recovery: Wallonia saw the highest increase in recruitment at 13% (compared to 8% in Flanders and 5% in Brussels), reaching pre-Covid levels and likely driven by a strong recovery of the temporary work sector.
Recruitment is positive in all sectors, except for the financial, agricultural and health sectors. Sectors still struggling with staff departures include the hotel industry, the administrative and support services sector and aviation and travel agencies.
