Flanders Sees Lowest Job Vacancies in Six Years
The Flemish employment service VDAB recorded its lowest monthly number of job vacancies in over six years, signaling a continued cooling of the region’s labor market. In July 2026, the agency received 16,734 direct job offers, roughly one-fifth fewer than in July 2025 and the lowest monthly figure since May 2020, when Belgium was in the grip of the first COVID-19 lockdown, according to RTBF.
A Persistent Decline
The July figures are part of a broader downward trend. Over the past 12 months (August 2025 to July 2026), VDAB received 245,062 job offers within the Normal Economic Circuit without Temporary Work Assignments (NECzU), a 13% decline compared to the previous 12-month period, the agency reported. “The weakening of the labor market continues,” VDAB stated in its official press release.
This is not a sudden reversal but the continuation of a multi-year trend. After peaking at nearly 383,000 vacancies in 2022, the number of job offers received by VDAB has declined each year since 2023. In 2025, the agency received 271,072 vacancies, nearly 10% fewer than in 2024, according to Statistiek Vlaanderen.
Post-COVID Normalization or Structural Shift?
Experts point to multiple factors behind the decline. Johan Vandevyvere, VDAB’s communication manager for West Flanders, noted in February that the current level of vacancies is roughly comparable to the 2017-2020 period. “But because in 2021 and 2022, shortly after COVID, the number of vacancies saw a huge increase, the decline now seems very large, while this can also be seen as a normalization after the post-COVID period,” he told Made in West-Vlaanderen.
However, structural factors are also at play. Eva Van Belle, professor of economics at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), points to “geopolitical tensions and US import tariffs, the rise of AI, and changes in unemployment benefits, which means that several people who lost their benefits are returning to the labor market and creating more competition,” as VRT NWS reported.
Youth Unemployment on the Rise
The cooling labor market is hitting young people particularly hard. In Brussels, the number of job seekers under 25 has risen by 17% year-on-year, and the number of young people in the integration period has increased by 30%, according to Actiris spokesperson Nora Ed-Daoui. “First of all, the economy is doing badly in Belgium,” she said. “Young people without work experience are usually the biggest victims of that, including highly educated young people.”
The challenges extend to recent graduates across the country. According to HR services group Acerta, 20% fewer young people under 25 started a permanent job in their first year after graduation compared to 2025, as VRT NWS reported. The trend is visible across the Western world, with more unemployment among university graduates aged 22-27 than in the broader labor market.
A Broader Belgian Picture
The decline in Flanders is not isolated. All three regional employment services in Belgium saw significant drops in 2025: Actiris in Brussels recorded a 28.3% decrease in vacancies, while Forem in Wallonia saw a 21.5% decrease, according to an EDMO Belux fact-check. Belgium currently has the lowest economic growth in the eurozone, which directly impacts hiring decisions.
What to Watch For
As the labor market continues to cool, key questions remain: Will the decline stabilize at pre-COVID levels, or will structural factors like AI adoption and trade tensions push vacancies even lower? The impact on youth unemployment will be a critical indicator, particularly as changes to unemployment benefits push more people back into the job market. With a new VDAB CEO set to take the helm, all eyes will be on how the agency navigates these challenging conditions in the months ahead.