New Year letter Mieke Coppieters, coordinator Talentenstroom

Increasing tension

The ‘war for talent’ is not over yet. If there is one thing I learnt in 2017, it is that! The good news. Growth. The economy is picking up and unemployment is falling. The downside. The tightness in the labour market and the increasing tension between supply and demand. Whereas there used to be 10 to 12 jobseekers per vacancy, there are now 7. In West Flanders, there are even only 2.5 per vacancy. So it’s not so bad with us. Or is it? The bar is getting higher and higher and diplomas are becoming more and more important, leaving us with a large surplus of workers in the province of Antwerp who cannot find a job anywhere. And that group is growing.