Labour shortages have long been plaguing Belgium, and the situation is only expected to get worse. Unlocking the economic potential of ethnic minorities already living here could be the clear-cut way to fill vacancies.
Nowhere in the European Union are companies struggling to fill job vacancies more than they are in Belgium, where the job vacancy rate in the third quarter of 2023 stood at 4.7%, placing the country far above the EU average of 2.6%. Half of Belgian companies suspect labour shortages will increase further by 2027 as the impact of the ageing population hits.
All levels of government have been urged to be more creative in finding solutions, including making it easier to hire and opening up more jobs to non-EU economic migrants. Just last week, the extension to the "Working in Belgium" portal to accelerate the hiring of foreign workers, aimed at helping businesses struggling with labour shortages to find suitable candidates overseas, was approved.
However, a recent report by the business management consultancy McKinsey has highlighted that the better integration and inclusion of ethnic minorities already living in the country in the labour market could not only help better fill these vacancies, but is imperative to do so.
Challenges and opportunities
In EU countries, minorities represent on average 10% of the population, while in Belgium, this figure stands at around 15%. Here, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is the largest region of origin (41%), followed by Sub-Saharan Africa (21%).
The damaging misperception is that they lack the necessary skills and qualifications to be successful hires, however, data from Statbel suggests otherwise. In Belgium, just under a third (32%) of minorities have a degree in higher education, compared to 27% among Belgians.
They are also almost twice as overqualified for their jobs. Instead of these skills being integrated into the labour market, many of these people in ethnic minority groups face chronic racial discrimination in the labour market in Belgium, resulting in unemployment among minorities being more than three times higher than among the rest of the population.
"As a likely consequence of worse outcomes in the labour market, they also experience notable disparities in income and poverty compared with nonminority populations," the report read.
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Efforts to combat racial discrimination in the labour market and strengthen efforts to recruit workers from these groups will not only help improve their financial situations, McKinsey argued. It will also fill a quarter of vacancies, add €120 billion to GDP annually at the European level, and employ 1.6 million people across the EU.
"Companies should overcome the cultural and practical barriers to delivering on this by gathering data to understand the skills and educational attainment levels of minorities in the markets in which they operate; develop initiatives to address talent gaps; and create talent processes and work environments that ensure they can thrive in their careers."
