Organisations in Belgium are finding it harder to recruit highly educated staff as demographic, specialisation pressures intensify.

23 August 2006

BRUSSELS — Top companies in the banking, chemical and technology sector are finding it increasingly difficult to find highly-educated staff.

New highly-educated staff are needed more than ever because the economy is moving at top speed and the baby boomers are retiring en masse, newspaper 'De Morgen' reported on Wednesday.

At ING Belgium, some 330 job vacancies are currently unfilled. They include commercial jobs in Brussels, IT and insurance jobs.
  
"It is the first time in my 38-year career that I have experienced something like this," ING chief Luc Vandewalle said.

The bank is especially looking for highly-educated workers who studied economics, law or exact sciences. IT is urging staff to look for new employees among friends and family and is launching a recruiting drive.

ING follows in the footsteps of Fortis, which said earlier this summer it has 370 vacancies in its insurance wing. There are also 250 job vacancies at Dexia.

The motoring sector is facing the same problem. There are some 200 vacancies for highly-educated staff at Toyota's Brussels headquarters. The chemical industry is also finding it difficult to recruit employees.
 
The job vacancies indicate that the Belgian economy is performing extremely well and that firms want to recruit again.

Vandewalle said the exit of post-World War II baby boomers from the workforce and higher demands for specialisation are contributing to the phenomenon.

The director of HR services firm Adecco, Mark De Smedt, said the demographic pressure is not about to disappear either. He said the shortfall of high-educated workers means more firms will need to employ expats in coming years.

The increasing specialisation demands are the result of globalisation as firms seek specific expertise and tender out standard work to specialised firms. This explains why banks can cut staff but be in search of new employees at the same time.

[Copyright Expatica News 2006]