Almost half of Belgian employers plan to create new jobs in the first quarter of 2022, according to a survey of more than 500 companies in the country.
Some 48% plan to increase their workforce in the next quarter, according to the employment outlook barometer of HR organisation ManpowerGroup, which surveyed 39,000 employers globally and was published on Monday.
"Even though the fourth wave of the coronavirus is causing uncertainty in the labour market, we expect employers to continue hiring at a very high rate in the first quarter of 2022," Philippe Lacroix, managing director of ManpowerGroup BeLux, said in a statement.
A boost to Belgian employment
Employers in Brussels (+42%) and Flanders (+40%) expect positive employment prospects in the first quarter of the next year.
On the other hand, 14% of employers in Belgium plan to reduce their number of employees. This means that net employment is forecast at 34% – the highest measured in Belgium since the beginning of the poll in 2003.
The HR company compared the recruitment plans of companies for the next quarter with the previous quarter. Looking at individual sectors, the poll found that companies in the IT, technology, telecommunications and media sectors, in particular, will be hiring, indicating a "great need for digital profiles."
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The survey also found that, for the first time since before the start of the pandemic, the recruitment intentions of all 40 surveyed countries are positive, with European countries including the Netherlands, Ireland, and Portugal doing particularly well.
However, the prospects reported by employers in Hungary, Greece and the Czech Republic were the least positive.
