Job vacancy figures in Belgium in the second quarter 2018
Belgian enterprises offered 145,760 job vacancies in the second quarter of 2018, compared to 140,690 in the first quarter of 2018, according to the new figures of Statbel, the Belgian statistical office. The job vacancy rate – the number of job vacancies compared to the total number of jobs in the enterprise – has also increased from 3.47 % in the first quarter of 2018 to 3.52 % in the second quarter.
The increase was the sharpest in Flanders, with a rise of 4,980 job vacancies compared to the first quarter of 2018. The job vacancy rate in Flanders (3.86 %) and in Brussels (3.38 %) is also higher than in Wallonia (2.79 %).
Most of the job vacancies were offered by large and medium-sized enterprises (76 % of the total). The job vacancy rate for these enterprises stands at 3.16 %. This figure is substantially lower than the job vacancy rate of 5.52 % in enterprises with less than 10 employees.
More than half of the job vacancies (65.6 %) can be found in four economic sectors:
- Scientific activities and administrative services (19.6 % of the total): 28,630 job vacancies
- Non-profit (17.3 %): 25,280 job vacancies
- Industry (14.7 %): 21,350 job vacancies
- Wholesale and retail trade (14 %): 20,430 job vacancies
These economic sectors have registered the highest job vacancy rate:
- ICT: 7.37 %
- Accommodation and food service activities: 6.49 %
- Construction: 6.06 %
- Scientific activities and administrative services: 5.54 %
The increases of the job vacancy rate (first versus second quarter 2018) were the sharpest in the following sectors: accommodation and food service activities (+1.34 percentage point), real estate (+0.72 percentage point) and construction (+0.69 percentage point). The job vacancy rate has decreased in the following sectors: wholesale and retail trade (-0.45 percentage point) and financial activities (-0.33 percentage point).