The year 2017 was marked by a sharp drop in collective redundancies and jobs threatened as a result of such procedures, according to data from the Labour Department. For the entire year, 62 companies announced their intention to carry out collective redundancies affecting 3,829 workers The Labour Department described 2017 as “a historically low year” on both counts since a “normal” year usually has about 100 collective redundancies. It also said the number of workers affected was the lowest since 2009, the year when such data began to be published.
“Compared to the 2012-2013 record years, there was a 77% decrease in announced redundancies (there had been 16,707 redundancies in 2012) and a drop of close to 50% in procedures (132 in 2013),” the department said.
In 2016, 12,000 jobs had been threatened by a Renault procedure.
Of the 3,829 employees targeted by their companies’ announced intentions to carry out collective redundancies between January and December of last year, 916 (23.92%) worked in Brussels, 2,193 (57.27%) in Flanders, and 720 (18.80%) in Wallonia.
The province most affected was Brussels, with 916 employees affected by a Renault procedure, followed by Antwerp (846). However, Antwerp’s tally is skewed by the 302 dismissals at Blokker, which, in reality, concern the entire country. Other provinces affected were Flemish Brabant (436), Hainaut (248), Limburg (238), West Flanders (219), Liège (208), Walloon Brabant (193) and Namur (71).
No jobs were threatened last year by collective redundancy in the province of Luxemburg.
The year 2017 was marked, in particular, by procedures announced by Renault at Blokker (302 redundancies), the DSV transport company in Seneffe (139), Bombardier in Brugge (160), Wendt Board in Nivelles (107) and Vinçotte in Vilvoorde (195).
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The Brussels Times
