Search for meaning at work, flexibility, well-being at work: the criteria for getting a job are no longer the same today.
This is one of the great paradoxes of the job market in Belgium. While the unemployment rate remains high, especially in Wallonia, which is faced with considerable unemployment with 49% of the 190,000 job seekers locked in long-term unemployment, and in Brussels, many sectors are short of applicants.
This is the case for technical professions, whether in the railway sector or in the army and in the private sector, which occupy a prominent place in the list of jobs in shortage. “ CThese are jobs that suffer from a tired and outdated image, points the finger at Thierry Ney, spokesperson for Forem. These are not professions valued and put forward by the main influencers with young people, whether it is the media, family or friends. We are not pushing to move towards this sector, we are going to put more emphasis on medical or political science studies. It’s a job which remains physically heavy but which has greatly evolved, we no longer aspire to the profession as before, in particular with the development of robotization. In addition, there is a real quest for meaning within these professions, we can work around energy saving, we take part in the construction of the new society and there are also good salaries.”
