Living and Working in Belgium
Belgium…
the

of Europe
Belgium
 A small federal state 32.545 km2 / Population: 10.6
million inhabitants
 A multicultural society (> 8% of residents are foreign
nationals
 Brussels is the capital: officially recognised as the
capital of Europe and the home of the key political
and and decision-making institutions of the EU
 3 Communities: Flemish, French and German (each
with its political institutions and administration)
 3 Regions: Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels-Capital
Region
 3 Official languages: Dutch, French and German
Typical Belgian
Regional Employment Services
VDAB
www.vdab.be
ACTIRIS
ADG
www.adg.be
www.actiris.be
FOREM
www.leforem.be
Vocational Training on Regional
Level
WALLONIA
 French
LE FOREM
www.leforem.be
FLANDERS
 Dutch
VDAB
www.vdab.be
THE BRUSSELS- CAPITAL
 French
Carrefour Formation
www.dorifor.be
 Dutch
VDAB
www.vdab.be
Unemployment Rate in the
3 Regions (2008)
18%
17%
16%
14%
12%
Shortage of qualified workers
Surplus of unqualified workers
High Interregional Mobility
10%
10%
8%
6%
4%
4%
2%
0%
Flanders
Flanders
Wallonia
Wallonia
Brussels
Brussels
The Belgian Labour Market
Most relevant sectors
– Services 72 %
– Industry 26.3%
– Agriculture 1.7%
Active population
– Active (working) population: 4 200 000 (on
a total population of 10 600 000)
Some characteristics
Differences in contracts
“laboureres/workers” and “employees” !!
Different languages in Belgium (Dutch,
French, German)
Regulation of annual vacation days
(based on prestations of the previous
year)
Labour Shortages
The professions suffering from a labour shortage
vary from region to region
Most wanted:






Engineers
Trilingual secretaries + Translators
Nurses
IT- Specialists
Plumbers / Welders
Truck drivers Licence C/E
Labour Surpluses
 Fishermen
 Unskilled workers (cleaners, salesmen, supply
clerks,…)
 Monolingual clerks
 Social profit sector workers
 Beauticians
Looking for work
 Registration
Registrate at the local municipality
 Attention:
As Polish citizen, you still need a work permit !
Each Belgian PES has an official list of
shortages, e.g. IT, construction, health sector
(employer can obtain work permit within 5 days)
Career in the EU Institutions
EPSO
(The European Personnel Selection Office)
Address:
Info-Recruitment
C-80 00/48
1049 Brussels
Belgium
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: http://europa.eu.int/epso
Work Experience for Graduates at
the EU Institutions
To give young university graduates a taste of what
working for the EU is like,the Institutions organise
traineeships or "stages“ each lasting 3-5 months.







The European Parliament
The Council
The Commission
Court of Justice
The Social and Economic Committee
The Committee of the Regions
The European Ombudsman
Useful links
http://www.actiris.be
http://www.socialsecurity.be
http://www.adg.be
http://www.onem.be
http://www.leforem.be
http://www.vdab.be
http://www.stepstone.be
http://www.emploi.lesoir.be
http://www.feb.be
http://www.references.be
http://www.brussel.irisnet.be
http://www.flanders.be
http://www.wallonie.be
http://www.dglive.be
http://www.eurobrussels.com
http://www.career.be
http://www.jobsinhubs.com
http://www.belgium.be
http://www.jobsinbrussels.com
http://www.diplomatie.be
http://www.brusselsjobs.com
http://www.fiscus.fgov.be
Dziękujemy za uwagę
Questions?