Belgian workers achieve record employment levels

Belgian workers are clocking in more hours than ever before, with nearly 87% of potential work hours performed in the first six months of this year. HR firm Acerta's analysis of data from over 430,000 private sector employees reveals this is the highest attendance level recorded since the firm began tracking in 2018.

This new record surpasses the 85.61% achieved last year and the 77.95% from the pandemic-stricken year of 2020. All forms of potential absence have seen a decline compared to the previous year. Sickness absence continues to be the main reason for employees not working, accounting for 7% of lost work time in the first half of the year.

Additionally, the use of time credit and career breaks has slightly decreased, and companies have relied less on technical and economic unemployment. Dirk Vanderhoydonck of Acerta attributes this trend partly to employers' efforts to combat sickness absence. However, he also points to a concerning trend: the reduction in economic and temporary unemployment during economically uncertain times. He notes that this was previously a buffer against layoffs, but it appears to be less utilized for that purpose now.

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That the economic and other temporary unemployment is decreasing in this economically uncertain time is something to keep an eye on. Previously, this was a buffer to avoid layoffs. Today, it is apparently used less for that.