Belgium has moved up five places to 50th in the global labour market ranking (Total Workforce Index), produced annually by ManpowerGroup.
The index analyses 200 key labour market indicators relating to skill availability, cost of labour, regulatory framework and productivity. It studies the hiring, management, development and retention of the talent crucial for business growth.
At a global level, the poorest performers are Nicaragua, Honduras and Bolivia whereas the US, Singapore and Canada come out on top. On a European scale, leading countries are Ireland, the UK, and Switzerland whilst Turkey, Greece and Slovakia rank the lowest.
Sébastien Delfosse, Managing Director of ManpowerGroup BeLux, stated: “Even though our country has advanced in our new global workforce ranking, we cannot be content with Belgium’s overall labour market performance.” Belgium has one of the strongest hiring intentions in the EU, with 33% of employers making a recruitment push.
He added that this year reflects previous editions, emphasising that “the cost of labour remains a significant obstacle when assessing the competitiveness of Belgium’s labour market by national and foreign investors. Although our country has performed well regarding worker availability/quality and productivity, this is not enough to compensate for lower scores in labour cost and regulatory framework, which are more rigid than in most of the other countries studied.”
Belgium trails behind its immediate neighbours: the Netherlands (14th), Germany (42nd), France (43rd) and Luxembourg (46th).
