Both newcomers from EU and non-EU countries are cautiously closing the employment gap with people of Belgian origin in the Flemish job market.
Newcomers to Flanders and Brussels are gradually making up ground compared to those of Belgian origin when it comes to being employed, the Flemish Government's Community Barometer showed. It collects annual data on societal diversity in the Flemish-speaking community.
In the past decade, the employment rate among newcomers from non-EU countries such as Morocco, Turkey, and several Asian nations has climbed from 46.8% in 2014 to 58% in 2023 in Flanders. In Brussels, the figure remains lower, rising from 37.5% in 2014 to 46.3% in 2023.
For newcomers from EU countries such as the Netherlands, Poland and Romania, the figure increased from 51.8% to 63.8% in the same period in Flanders. In Brussels, it went from 47.2% to 53%.
Closing the gap?
In Flanders, this highlights that both groups are cautiously closing the employment gap with individuals of Belgian origin. However, there is still a significant gap: for citizens of Belgian origin, the employment rate stands at 79.7%.
In Brussels, the employment rate is 70.9% among people of Belgian origin, around 23 percentage points higher than among non-EU newcomers. Ten years ago, this difference was almost 28 percentage points.
Unemployment rates have also decreased over the years. Non-EU newcomers saw their unemployment rates halve from 14.7% to 6.7% in ten years. Among EU newcomers, it dropped from 7.5% to 4% in Flanders.
In Brussels, it remains much higher. It is 16.6% among non-EU newcomers. However, among EU newcomers, it is slightly lower (7%) than among people of Belgian origin (7.8%).
In the past, the discrepancies have been explained by different job types. Unlike Brussels, which has a service economy with profiles that generally require high qualifications, Flanders offers more jobs in industry. Even if these do not directly correspond to the skills of newcomers, a transition into this type of employment is easier.