Nearly 44,000 Flemish job seekers risk losing benefits in first half of 2026
Almost 44,000 Flemish job seekers risk losing their unemployment benefits in the first half of 2026, according to a report published on Wednesday by the Flemish employment agency VDAB. But it is too soon to say if the two-year cap on benefits is having an impact on job seeking figures, the agency says.
On 31 January 2026, VDAB counted 229,988 job seekers without work in Flanders, up 7 per cent compared to a year earlier. Just over half, or 119,826 people, were receiving or applying for unemployment benefits, its report states.
A growing number of those people risk losing their unemployment benefits as a result of the two-year time limit introduced by the federal government last year. VDAB counted 3,419 registered job seekers who are at risk of losing their benefits before the end of February. Between March and June, a further 40,336 people could follow.
"A smaller group of jobseekers who were approaching the end of their benefits have left unemployment"
The federal government introduced the two-year cap to encourage unemployed people to get back to work. If that measure will have an effect on the unemployment rate, remains to be seen. As of now, the cap has only had a minor impact on job seeking figures, according to VDAB .
"A smaller group of jobseekers who were approaching the end of their benefits have left unemployment, for example by finding work," the agency's report says. It adds that job seekers are only deregistered after the National Employment Office (ONEM-RVA) has confirmed the loss of benefits, and the individuals themselves have indicated that they are no longer looking for work. "It is still too early for that," VDAB says.
Sustainable employment not tracked
The Flemish government has also introduced tools to help job seekers and people entitled to social assistance at a Public Centre for Social Welfare (CPAS-OCMW) to find work. These programmes aim to help people who lack experience or work skills to acquire the necessary competencies to find work in the regular labour market.
Between early 2022 and mid-2025, 15,956 of these employment programmes were launched. But Work minister Zuhal Demir admitted in Parliament on Wednesday that the government does not track whether they lead to sustainable employment.
"I cannot say how many people on social assistance have been in work for six or twelve months or longer after a Temporary Work Experience (TWE) programme, because this is not measured," Demir said, in response to a question from Vlaams Belang MP Michiel Awouters. "Neither VDAB nor the OCMWs have exact figures on the duration of employment."
#FlandersNewsService | PHOTO © BELGIAN_FREELANCE
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