Shortage of jobs: how to make the construction trades sexy?
When we ask the Forem what it is putting in place to remedy the shortage that is rife in the construction trades, spokesperson Thierry Ney immediately sets the scene: “Wallonia and more broadly Belgium are not the only ones to suffer from a shortage in technical and manual professions, all of Europe is affected, even China is struggling to find additional labor for its textile industry. “
The brand image of these professions
“That being said, we are working on several areas, starting with improving the brand image of these professions. If young people no longer choose these options during their school career, it is primarily because they have a poor perception of the construction trades: heavy, arduous, dependent on the weather, badly paid. This needs to be corrected because these trades have evolved in recent years, the working conditions have improved and the arduousness has increased. reduced with the robotization and digitalization of certain tasks.”
Many positions are available
“It is therefore essential to inform, raise awareness, motivate and this work on the image of these professions must target young people but also their influencers, such as parents, teachers or friends. Clearly, we must make sexy these professions which are not perceived as such until now. and the age pyramid announces many departures in the years to come.”