Wallonia and Flanders will step up their cooperation to give more Walloon jobseekers access to opportunities in Flanders and Flemish jobseekers access to positions in Wallonia. The Flemish and Walloon Employment Ministers, Zuhal Demir and Pierre-Yves Jeholet, have signed a new cooperation agreement to this end. This new agreement between the two regions aims at strengthened cooperation on activation, training and job matching.
“This agreement is a win-win,” says Zuhal Demir. “Our Flemish businesses are crying out for talent and we have a huge number of vacancies. Our southern neighbours,
meanwhile, have a substantial pool of labour. Stepping up cooperation is simply common sense. The language border must not be a barrier to employment.”
“This agreement is a concrete step towards breaking down barriers between our regions. Interregional mobility is an opportunity for jobseekers and for businesses looking for talent. Together, we are creating solutions to raise the employment rate and get jobseekers back into the labour market,” stresses Pierre-Yves Jeholet.
Flanders is facing a structural shortage on the labour market: there are on average only three candidates per vacancy. Wallonia, meanwhile, has a large number of jobseekers and suffers from a lack of work. The Walloon employment rate stands at around 68%, while in Flanders it is roughly ten points higher.
To achieve the goal of an 80% employment rate, it is therefore essential to strengthen cooperation between the two regions, notably by helping Walloon jobseekers find work in Flanders. Furthermore, unemployment benefits will be time-limited from next year, making it necessary to pick up the pace.
Strengthened cooperation between VDAB and Forem
The new agreement deepens the existing cooperation between VDAB and Forem. The two employment services will jointly organise job fairs and pilot projects to bring Walloon talent closer to Flemish businesses. Focus will also be placed on training, including vocational training, language courses and workplace learning to fill vacancies in the other region.
In return, stricter monitoring of jobseeker participation will be introduced. Both services stress that they will strictly enforce the rules and sanctions. Flemish employers will also have to provide feedback on Walloon candidates to Forem.
There will also be an exchange of job vacancies and personal data so that jobseekers automatically have access to positions in the other region. VDAB and Forem will carry out joint labour market analyses to identify bottlenecks in both regions.
Finally, cooperation will be intensified in three zones along the language border, allowing VDAB and Forem to work more closely and effectively on the ground: West zone (West Flanders, East Flanders and Walloon Picardy), Central zone (Flemish Brabant and Walloon Brabant) and East zone (Limburg and the Liège-Huy-Waremme region).
Pilot project “Flemish opportunities, Walloon talent”
The signing of the agreement forms part of the “Flemish opportunities, Walloon talent” pilot project. This project involves close cooperation between large companies and SMEs with the two employment services to guide Walloon jobseekers towards positions in Flanders. The focus is on low-skilled jobs. The project also aims to turn participating companies into ambassadors for interregional mobility, so that they can inspire other employers in the long run.
Specifically, vacancies are published via VDAB and automatically shared with Forem. Both services are committed to actively managing these vacancies and holding follow-up meetings with the companies concerned every six weeks. At these meetings, they examine how to make vacancies more attractive to Walloon and Flemish jobseekers, plan targeted application drives and gather feedback from employers. VDAB and Forem also promote individual vocational training (IBO) to enable companies to train candidates on the job. Companies are also encouraged to take part in job days, the results of which are systematically monitored.
“We want to give every Walloon jobseeker the chance to seize opportunities in Flanders. That requires enhanced support, tailored training and close cooperation between our services,” stresses Pierre-Yves Jeholet.
This strengthened cooperation between Wallonia and Flanders reflects a shared determination to look for solutions close to home first. “The fact that we cannot find anyone in Flanders for a position doesn't mean we should immediately look abroad,” concludes Zuhal Demir. “In Wallonia, there are many jobseekers ready to work here. But existing obstacles need to be removed. And that is exactly what we are doing with this agreement.”