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Try now for freeCompared to the same period in 2021, salaried employment saw a strong recovery in the first quarter of 2022. COVID restrictions were much lighter than in early 2021, leading to a significant rise in employed workers (+2.2%) and an even larger increase in job positions (+3.1%). This difference is mainly due to the sharp growth in flexi-jobs, typically held by workers already employed elsewhere.
The reduced impact of COVID measures on temporary unemployment, combined with economic recovery, resulted in a sharp increase in work volume, expressed in full-time equivalents (+5.8%).
The total or partial closure of many businesses affected the labour market in two key ways: a rise in temporary unemployment and the termination or non-renewal of temporary contracts.
Temporary unemployment maintained the link between worker and employer, even though little or no work was performed. This directly reduced the work volume in full-time equivalents.
By contrast, the termination of temporary contracts immediately reduced job positions, particularly in sectors reliant on short-term employment (temporary work, hospitality). As these jobs are often supplementary, the drop in employed workers was less pronounced, and the overall work volume decrease was relatively limited.
A methodological change in ONSS declarations led to the inclusion of local elected officials, volunteer firefighters, and ambulance workers, provided they received minimum compensation for non-emergency work. This adjustment added 5,500 jobs, raised employed workers by around 2,500, and increased work volume by about 3,400 full-time equivalents. This adjustment mainly affects the "Public Administration" sector, especially local and provincial administrations.
In agriculture and horticulture, salaried employment mainly involves seasonal work under occasional employment schemes. As of March 31, 2022, job positions were up 1.3% compared to 2021, while work volume increased by 3.3% over the same period.
COVID measures had little direct impact on industry and construction. Their evolution was more influenced by demand and supply chain disruptions.
In Q1 2022, job positions (+1.4%) and work volume (+4.3%) increased compared to 2021. Sub-sectors with the strongest growth were pharmaceuticals (+3.9% in jobs, +3.7% in work volume), food manufacturing (+2.6% in jobs, +5.3% in work volume), and machinery production (+2.9% in jobs, +5.4% in work volume).
The "transport equipment manufacturing" sector lagged, with a drop in job positions (-1.3%) and only slight growth in work volume (+0.8%).
In construction, job positions grew by 1%, while work volume rose sharply by 7.4%, supported by more favourable weather conditions.
Sectors like retail and hospitality, heavily impacted by closures in 2021, experienced a strong rebound in 2022. Most restrictions were lifted in Q1 2022, allowing these sectors to recover.
Overall, job positions increased by 5.4% and work volume by 9.5% compared to 2021. Almost all sub-sectors showed positive trends, except for finance, where employment continues to decline.
Information and communication (+6% jobs, +8% work volume) and professional and technical services (+5% jobs, +7% work volume) showed strong structural growth. Administrative and support services also recovered sharply, driven by a renewed demand for temporary workers.
Hospitality saw a particularly strong rebound, with job positions up 36% and work volume tripling (+207%). However, work volume in hospitality remained nearly 10% below 2019 levels.
Non-commercial services saw limited COVID impact. However, arts, entertainment, sports, and personal services experienced closures in early 2021. In Q1 2022, job positions increased by 1.5% and work volume by 2.8% compared to 2021.
The strongest growth was in education (+1% jobs, +1.5% work volume) and healthcare/social services (+0.9% jobs, +1.7% work volume). The arts, entertainment, and sports sector rebounded significantly (+14.5% jobs, +41% work volume), returning to 2019 employment levels.
Demand for temporary workers rebounded strongly. By the end of March 2022, job positions increased by 12% compared to March 2021 (+13% for blue-collar workers, +10% for white-collar workers). Work volume also rose sharply (+10% overall; +13% for blue-collar, +6.5% for white-collar).
Both private and public sectors saw job growth, but the increase was more pronounced in the private sector (+3.9% vs +0.5% in the public sector, adjusted for the methodological change).
Work volume increased significantly in the private sector (+7.9%) but only modestly in the public sector (+0.5%).
Job growth was slightly higher among men (+3.2%) than women (+2.9%). Men also saw a larger work volume recovery (+6.3% vs +5.3%).
The strongest job growth occurred among younger workers, who were also hardest hit during the crisis. Work volume rose most sharply among workers under 25 (+11%), followed by those aged 25-39 (+5.4%).
Regionally, Brussels saw the highest job growth (+3.7%) and work volume recovery (+8.5%), followed by Flanders (+3% jobs, +5.4% work volume) and Wallonia (+2.4% jobs, +5.4% work volume).
The difference between job growth and worker growth (due to flexi-job increases) was most pronounced in Flanders. Employed workers increased similarly in Flanders and Wallonia (+2%), while Brussels saw a stronger increase (+3.5%).
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