Belgium drops 13 places in the world ranking of the workforce – Companies
Belgium has fallen 13 places in the world ranking of the workforce (Total Workforce Index) established annually by ManpowerGroup. According to the index which measures the attractiveness of the labor and labor markets of 64 countries around the world, Belgium now occupies 55th place in the 2022 ranking, dominated by the United States.
To establish its index, ManpowerGroup analyzes 200 key labor market criteria regarding the availability of skills, the cost of labour, the regulatory framework and productivity. The study examines the conditions for hiring, managing, developing and retaining the talent that companies need to ensure their growth.
According to the results, the United States has the most attractive labor market and ahead of Singapore, Canada, Ireland and Australia.
Among Europeans, Ireland is in 4th place, the UK is in 6th place, Switzerland in 13th, Denmark in 15th, Finland 16th, Norway 17th. Only four European countries rank behind Belgium: Slovakia (57th), Turkey (58th), Italy (59th) and France (60th).
“Our country is losing its attractiveness and our survey once again highlights the urgency of an in-depth reform of our labor market“, comments Sébastien Delfosse, Managing Director of ManpowerGroup BeLux. “Our active population, although highly qualified, is aging, not flexible enough and has an employment rate that is still too low : 71.6% with strong progress at regional level, 76.2% in Flanders, 64.8% in Brussels and 65% in Wallonia. Furthermore, the introduction of new criteria in our study such as inflation or the increase in salary costs – in particular via our indexation system – weight on the competitiveness of our labor market and handicaps Belgium during the decisions and choices of investments of international groups.”
ManpowerGroup nevertheless notes that the “spectacular decline of Belgium is not an isolated case because the survey reveals that our main European partners face the same difficulties – Germany, France or Italy – while other countries such as the United Kingdom, the Nordic countries or the Netherlands seem to be more resistant to the accumulated competition between the labor markets at the level worldwide in assessing the attractiveness of their workforce”.
To establish its index, ManpowerGroup analyzes 200 key labor market criteria relating to the availability of skills, the cost of labour, the regulatory framework and productivity. The study examines the conditions for hiring, managing, developing and retaining the talent that companies need to ensure their growth. According to the results, the United States presents the most attractive and deviant labor market Singapore, Canada, Ireland and Australia. Among the Europeans, Ireland occupies 4th place, the United Kingdom is in 6th position, Switzerland in 13th, Denmark in 15th, Finland 16th, Norway 17th. Only four European countries rank behind Belgium: Slovakia (57th), Turkey (58th), Italy (59th) and France (60th). “Our country is losing its attractiveness and our survey once again highlights the urgency of an in-depth reform of our labor market”, comments Sébastien Delfosse, Managing Director of ManpowerGroup BeLux. “Our active population, although highly qualified, is aging, not flexible enough and has an employment rate that is still too low: 71.6% with a strong increase at regional level, 76.2% in Flanders, 64.8% in Brussels and 65% in Wallonia. Furthermore, the introduction of new criteria in our study such as inflation or the increase in the cost of wages – in particular via our indexation system – weighs on the competitiveness of our labor market and handicaps Belgium during the decisions and choices of investments of international groups.” ManpowerGroup notes all the same that the “spectacular decline of Belgium is not an isolated case because the survey reveals that our main European partners are facing the same difficulties – Germany, France or Italy – while ‘other countries such as the United Kingdom, the Nordic countries or the Netherlands seem to be better able to withstand the accumulated competition that global labor markets are engaged in in assessing the attractiveness of their labor force. work”.