New agreement aims to guide more Walloon jobseekers to jobs in Flanders
To ensure that more Walloon jobseekers find work in Flanders, where many vacancies remain unfilled, the two regions' Employment ministers have signed a cooperation agreement. Employment services VDAB and Forem are committed to matching Flemish vacancies and Walloon jobseekers much more quickly.
West Flanders pasta producer Soubry was the setting for the signing of the agreement. The company has 420 employees, 180 of whom are French and only 10 from Wallonia.
“The situation is urgent. In Flanders, we need workers: when there is a vacancy, only three candidates apply,” said Flemish Employment minister Zuhal Demir. “We will no longer be looking for profiles outside Europe, but here in Belgium: in Flanders, but also in Wallonia.”
According to Demir, this agreement should provide a solution. “In concrete terms, all vacancies will now be exchanged,” she said. “If Walloon jobseekers do not respond to several vacancies, it is now also possible to impose a sanction.”
Her Walloon counterpart, Pierre-Yves Jeholet, confirmed that unemployed people in Wallonia would be made more accountable, but with common sense: "We are not going to ask an employee from Arlon to come and work in Roeselare,” he said. “But crossing the language border to go to work should certainly be possible. Language skills should not be an obstacle. This is demonstrated by the high number of French people already working at Soubry today."
The Flemish employers' organisation Voka welcomes the agreement. “Our governments have been too lax for far too long,” it said. “Companies in Flanders are ready to give motivated Walloons work. Let them come.”
#FlandersNewsService | Zuhal Demir and Pierre-Yves Jeholet sign a cooperation agreement, © BELGA PHOTO NICOLAS MAETERLINCK
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