The Walloon employment office (Forem) will assign 70 counsellors to support workers who have just lost their jobs as a result of the coronavirus crisis, it announced on Friday.
People who have just lost their jobs due to the new coronavirus (Covid-19) "are in principle highly employable and can therefore offer important advantages for sectors and companies already involved in the economic recovery," Forem added.
These new job seekers will be contacted "within 48 hours" to undertake a series of steps to enable them to find a job quickly, Forem said.
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Depending on the experience and skills of these job seekers, the counsellors will propose them job offers and put them in touch with companies that are hiring.
"Failing that, these people will be offered to enter directly into a support process where they can benefit from a year's assessment of their skills, coaching for a reorientation, as well as other assistance," the Forem added.
The rate of demand from job seekers in Wallonia has increased for the first time in six years, with a 6.6% rise in April. "Usually, this period is marked by a decrease in the number of job seekers, thanks in particular to the tourism and hotel and catering sector starting up again," the employment office remarked.
Currently, job seekers will have to find their work elsewhere, however, as restaurants and cafés can only open again from 8 June at the earliest as Belgium moves out of lockdown in phases.
The Brussels Times
