Belgium’s main employers’ organisations are calling for a new approach to employment after more than 130,000 people lost their entitlement to unemployment or integration benefits on 1 January.
The organisations — FEB, Voka, Beci, AKT and AVED-IHK — say limiting unemployment benefits over time should not be seen purely as a budget-saving measure.
“It should first and foremost be an activation measure,” said FEB chief executive Pieter Timmermans, urging public authorities to take responsibility for helping those affected into work wherever possible.
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The business groups are proposing a joint platform bringing together the Brussels, Walloon, Flemish and German-speaking employment services — Actiris, Forem, VDAB and ADG — along with the federal social security bodies Onem, Inami and the Federal Public Planning Service for Social Integration.
They say such a platform would allow the different bodies to co-ordinate policies and share best practice more effectively.
According to the employers’ organisations, training provision should also be better aligned with the real needs of the labour market and delivered more quickly.
FEB says that of all those excluded from unemployment benefits, around 40% now receive a living wage from a CPAS public social welfare centre.
A further 10% to 15% have found work, while 7% to 9% have been registered as unfit for work through Inami.
For the remaining 40%, their situation is unclear or unknown, according to FEB.
Among other measures, the employers’ organisations are calling for greater consistency between CPAS centres in how they assess people’s fitness for work.
They are also urging the regions and communities to provide stronger support policies, including sufficient, affordable and flexible childcare.
The groups say they also want to examine whether, and how, federal activation policy could be better tailored to regional realities in order to improve results.
