VDAB to offer personalised support to all people losing their benefits
The VDAB, Flanders’ public employment service, is set to provide personalized guidance to all individuals who lose their unemployment benefits, Flemish employment minister Zuhal Demir (N-VA) announced on Friday. The support may involve matching people with jobs, but also offering targeted training to improve their chances of re-entering the workforce.
According to the National Employment Office (RVA), an estimated 57,400 people in Flanders will lose their benefits over the next two years. While VDAB already supports jobseekers, this new initiative aims to provide tailored offers ahead of the cutoff point. To prepare, the agency is hiring 20 job facilitators and 30 service line employees.
The support will be adapted to each individual’s profile and may include a job vacancy or short-term training with a clear path to employment. For people further removed from the labour market, training is often a crucial first step, the plan notes. The mediators will assess factors such as previous efforts to find work, experience, interests, skills and personal circumstances. Each province will also develop a local action plan to align with regional labour market needs and partners.
Demir called on employers to broaden their perspective, saying, "Don't look at the age of someone in their fifties, look at their experience. Don't look at the lack of experience of a young person, look at their potential."
"Too little, too late"
However, the plan has drawn criticism from the opposition. Flemish MP Eva Platteau (Green) called it “too little, too late.” She added, "The plan is for the VDAB to finally do what it should have done in recent years: effectively guide people into jobs. This isn't a new plan; it's simply a reminder of the VDAB's most important task, which it has failed to fulfill in recent years."
Platteau also questioned the practical viability of the plan, pointing to budget cuts: "A lot is rightly expected of the VDAB, but at the same time, Demir is cutting back on the VDAB: around 80 million euros per year. How does the Flemish government envision the VDAB performing the task it has failed to do in recent years, with less money? A more thorough reform of the VDAB's operations is necessary, but that obviously doesn't benefit the people who will now lose their benefits."
#FlandersNewsService | © BELGA PHOTO SISKA GREMMELPREZ
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