The number of new job postings in Flanders has fallen below Covid-19 levels, according to the Flemish Public Employment Service (VDAB).
The cumulative number of job listings in Flanders has been on a steady decline since the second half of 2022.
VDAB reports that over the past 12 months, 234,053 jobs were reported directly to the service – down 15% from the previous period (November 2024-October 2025).
This figure excludes Interim assignments or agency work, which dropped by 20% between the same periods.
This number has dropped below the previous low of February 2021, when 235,037 jobs were reported to the service. At that point, the Flemish job market was affected by a full year of Covid-19 restrictions and lockdowns.
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The largest sectors reporting new jobs were business services (32.715), social services (31.513) and education (30.349), despite hiring slowing down significantly across these sectors.
The only sectors to report any growth were the primary sector (+18%) and the graphic arts industry (+7%), with VDAB qualifying the growth in the latter due to the small size of the industry, reporting a total of 72 job postings.
The overwhelming majority of jobs reported were permanent contracts, with only 29% being a temporary contract.
Around one in four (62,991) job postings were based in the province of Antwerp, despite a significant decrease in the region. East Flanders (49,984) and West Flanders (43,297) have the second and third most job opportunities.
Limburg (28,485) and Flemish Brabant (28,311) follow at a significant distance.
VDAB reported 19,155 job postings in Brussels, down 12.1% compared to the same period last year.
