No Degree, €5,921/Month: How One Extra Study Year Paid Off
A 39-year-old Belgian solar panel installer is earning €5,921 gross per month — well above the national average — despite holding no higher education diploma. His secret? One additional year of specialized technical training that labor experts call a “golden investment.”
Known only as “Tom” (a pseudonym used by HLN), the installer has worked for the same solar energy company for over a decade, watching it grow from a small startup into a firm focused on industrial installations and home batteries. His monthly take-home pay of €3,319 net is supplemented by a company car with fuel card, mobile phone, laptop, meal vouchers, and a net premium.
The Value of a Seventh Year
Tom holds a diploma in Electrotechnics from Technical Secondary Education (TSO) — a qualification that includes a specialized seventh year beyond the standard six-year secondary program. According to Prof. Stijn Baert, HLN work expert and professor of labor economics at Ghent University and the University of Antwerp, this extra year is the key to Tom’s success.
“A seventh year of TSO often proves to be a particularly valuable investment,” Baert said. “From international research we know that each extra year of study after age 18 yields an average of 7 to 8 percent extra pay, but a seventh year of TSO can make even more difference.”
Baert explained that the seventh year provides highly practical technical training that employers actively seek. “You get a very practice-oriented technical education, exactly the profile employers are looking for today. Moreover, with that seventh year you not only distinguish yourself in terms of content, but you also signal that you have the ambition to go beyond the minimum of a secondary education diploma.”
A Triple Shortage Occupation
Tom’s job as a solar panel installer is classified by the VDAB (Flemish Employment Service) as a “triple shortage occupation” — meaning there is a simultaneous shortage of people with the right training, candidates with the necessary skills, and workers willing to accept the working conditions.
“The nature of Tom’s job also works strongly in his favor,” Baert noted. “According to the VDAB, this is a so-called triple shortage occupation. Moreover, he works in conditions that would make an average labor economics professor call them life-threatening. That combination makes such profiles highly sought after in the labor market.”
Other triple shortage occupations include production workers in power plants, pharmaceutical and chemical factories, land surveyors, and ship mechanics.
Choosing the Right Sector
Baert emphasized that sector selection matters as much as education. According to the Jobat Salariskompas, three sectors consistently pay well for workers without higher education: chemistry and pharmaceuticals, energy and environment (Tom’s field), and electronics and technology.
“Tom chose his field wisely,” Baert said. These sectors pay well partly due to shortages of specialized profiles driving up wages, and partly due to an internal wage pressure effect: research shows that 4 out of 10 workers know their colleagues’ salaries, creating upward pressure on wages.
How Tom Compares
Tom’s salary significantly exceeds averages across the board. According to the Jobat Salariskompas, someone without a higher education diploma with 11 to 15 years of experience earns an average of €3,494 gross per month. Even with 16 to 20 years of experience, the average rises only to €3,628. Tom earns roughly €1,500 to €2,300 more than these benchmarks.
His €5,921 gross monthly salary even surpasses the average for academic master’s degree holders (€5,071) and the overall Belgian average of €4,243.
Broader Implications
Tom’s story challenges the assumption that a university degree is the only path to a high income. It highlights the value of specialized technical education in an era of rapid energy transition, where skilled technicians are increasingly in demand.
However, a recent education reform in Belgium may threaten this pipeline. As of the 2024-2025 school year, students in the labor market finality track (formerly BSO) now receive their secondary diploma after the sixth year rather than the seventh. Early data shows enrollment in seventh-year construction programs nearly halved, from 2,440 students in 2024-2025 to 1,340 in 2025-2026.
What’s Next
For Tom, the question is whether his salary can be optimized further. Baert suggested that a supplementary pension plan or a cafeteria plan — allowing employees to convert part of their gross salary into benefits like extra leave or insurance — could provide additional value.
As Belgium’s energy transition accelerates and the demand for skilled technicians grows, stories like Tom’s may become less exceptional — but only if the education system continues to produce the specialized talent that sectors like energy and technology urgently need.