Jobseekers and career changers reshape Belgium’s guidance landscape

Career guidance in French-speaking Belgium is no longer concentrated around the transition from school to a first job. SIEP’s first guidance barometer, based on more than 630,000 interactions across its eight information centers, websites and career fairs, shows adults playing a growing role.

At the fairs, 42.3% of visitors were over 26. That is notable because SIEP usually focuses on people aged 12 to 26, while also serving relatives and adults considering a new direction. Almost 10% of fair visitors are now adults changing careers, and a similar share are jobseekers.

“Guidance is no longer a stage of life, but a recurring practice,” SIEP said. Its advisers see the trend as an effect of the unemployment reform taking effect in January 2026, alongside rapid changes in the labor market and a rise in involuntary career changes.

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Guidance is no longer a stage of life, but a recurring practice

Employment prospects have also become a new criterion in choosing studies. The SIEP website’s “Training in shortage” page is its fourth most consulted, while requests about entering the workforce on metiers.siep.be have risen 214%. SIEP describes this as pragmatism, not the abandonment of personal vocation, but an effort to align interests with economic reality.

Health and welfare attract the most online interest. The most searched courses are ambulance worker, educator, childcare assistant, medical secretary and nursing assistant. Searches for social protection and assistance to people are also increasing. SIEP links those choices to an aging population, shortages of care workers and a growing desire for socially useful work. Interest in jobs connected with nature, animals and the environment has also recorded an unprecedented rise.

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The employment prospects have become a criterion for choosing studies on an equal footing with the content of the studies