Belgium’s Federation of Enterprises has called for an absolute hiring freeze across government until 2029, arguing that the measure would support economic growth while public authorities search for budget savings.
The proposal is one of 10 “quick wins” in the growth plan launched by the employers’ organisation on Friday, as Belgium’s various governments begin work on their budgets.
VBO claims the plan should help lift economic growth by 0.5 to 1 percentage point by 2029 and reverse the trend of slowing growth.
The organisation says this should go hand in hand with spending cuts by government. As authorities look for billions of euros in their budget plans, the VBO insists that new taxes are not an option.
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It argues that the recovery would be helped if government stopped “cannibalising the labour market to the detriment of the private sector”.
The employers’ group is therefore calling for an employment norm based on a complete recruitment freeze across the whole of government until 2029, alongside the creation of a flexible and mobile pool of staff within the public sector.
It also says many public-sector processes could be made faster and more efficient through the use of artificial intelligence.
The VBO says public-sector employment has risen by 40% over the past 25 years, compared with 20% in the private sector.
Other measures in the package have been among the organisation’s longstanding demands, including reform of the wage norm law and the indexation mechanism. It also says there should be no new taxes on entrepreneurship.
