Following a period of stagnation, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Belgium are once again looking to take on new staff, especially in Wallonia.
In the first half of this year, few SMEs (companies with up to 250 employees) were hiring new staff, but recruitment intentions have picked up in June: around 38% of such companies in Belgium have plans to hire additional people, up from 35.8% in March. This is the highest level since 2022, according to HR services provider SD Worx.
However, there are clear differences between the regions. In Wallonia, almost half (46%) of SMEs are looking to hire staff between July and September. Meanwhile, in Flanders and Brussels, the average is 35%, representing a slight drop compared to the previous quarter.
"Walloon SMEs are showing remarkably more positive post-election employment plans," said SD Worx SME consultant Annelies Rottiers. "Recruitment intentions are at the highest level since records began in September 2010."
The share of SMEs that indicated that the political climate affected their employment intention was also much higher in Wallonia (40% compared to one in three in Flanders, and only a quarter in Brussels).
Considering redundancies
Companies in Wallonia also reported having more recent vacancies than those in Brussels and Flanders, especially in 'bottleneck professions': two thirds of Walloon SMEs (62%) are struggling to fill such positions compared to less than half (47.2%) in Brussels.
Moreover, only 5% of Walloon SMEs are thinking of firing existing employees in the coming months. Across the entire country, the figure dropped from 12.9% to 11.5%. In Brussels and Flanders, around 14% of SMEs are considering redundancies.
Four in ten Belgian SMEs which are planning to lay off staff are also considering replacing them, up from only 28.5% last quarter.
