The government of Brussels agreed on Thursday to introduce a systematic skills assessment for all jobseekers in the region.
The measure, accompanied by an action plan focusing on training or work experience, is aimed at bringing the unemployed closer to the job market.
“In Brussels, 61% of jobseekers are long-term; 71.4% have no more than a secondary school diploma, in a demanding market where the level of qualification required is high,” Brussels Minister for Employment and Vocational Training, Bernard Clerfayt (DéFI), said.
“Against this backdrop, there is an urgent need to raise the skill levels of job seekers. And to achieve this, training or work placements are essential,” he explained.
To strengthen the support provided by the Actiris employment agency to job seekers, the Brussels government has therefore decided to introduce a professional, linguistic and digital skills assessment for all jobseekers.
This assessment will make it possible to check how well the skills of Brussels residents match the needs of the job market.
It will be accompanied by a pathway to employment via work placements and/or training. Priority will be given to jobseekers who have been registered for more than a year, young people and women.
The draft ordinance providing for this scheme will be submitted to the Brussels Parliament in June.
According to Clerfayt, who initiated the ordinance, there is no question of imposing the direction of training or forcing anyone to consider a career in a sector that does not interest them. That would benefit neither the job seeker nor the employers, he said.
Both measures, the skills assessment and pathway to employment, are to come into force on 1 September 2023.
