500 fewer civil servants in Brussels due to hiring freeze

The number of civil servants working for the Brussels region has fallen by more than 500 full-time equivalents since a recruitment freeze was implemented in December 2023, according to new figures from the capital’s finance minister, Dirk De Smedt (Anders). 

The recruitment freeze was part of the Brussels government’s cost-cutting measures and was further tightened in March of this year. 

“We’re taking a much stricter approach to new recruitment and no longer automatically replace those who leave,” De Smedt said.

“In this way, we’re gradually gaining better control over our staff costs.”

An initial but slight reduction in staff numbers was first noted in August 2025, with the workforce falling from 12,093 to 12,000. Since early 2026, this decline has become more pronounced.

De Smedt said that 338 full-time equivalents had been cut over just a four-month period beginning March 2026, representing a reduction of approximately 2.5%. 

The recruitment freeze does not apply to all departments. “Where additional staff are needed to maintain service levels, targeted recruitment will remain possible,” De Smedt added.

For example, the 2026 budget allocated additional funds for extra staff at the Brussels fire service.

“Staffing policy forms part of the broader reform of the Brussels public administration, in which the government is simultaneously simplifying structures and organising operations more efficiently,” said De Smedt.

The Brussels administrations have expanded by thousands of civil servants over the past 10 years, and personnel costs have risen to about 40% of the regional budget. 

The government hopes to save about €500 million over the next three years of its term without resorting to outright redundancies via the recruitment freeze, cuts to employee benefits, and by merging a number of public services. All the various services will be organised around just four pillars. 

A "regional skills pool" is also intended to help match public sector staff from overstaffed administrations with services facing acute shortages.

Trade unions are sceptical about the savings that will come from these measures - especially cuts to staff benefits.

De Smedt plans to scrap two days’ annual leave for civil service workers and postpone by five years the pay rise previously awarded after 29 years’ service. 

Additionally, the appraisal period for statutory civil servants will take place annually rather than every two years, which will make it easier to issue redundancies.

“In the long term, that doesn’t help us at all,” said Anissa Ahally of the VSOA trade union. 

“The trade unions are sticking to their veto. We’re going to try to reduce the measures to a minimum.”

The ACOD union said it saw no merit in a five-year postponement of the traditionally 29-year raise, in particular. 

“I wouldn’t call that a compromise,” ACOD’s Patrick Giebens said. “That’s simply passing the problem on to the next government. That’s not politically right.

“If the minister isn’t willing to make any concessions, there can be no question of negotiation. We’re already preparing for a bad outcome and, consequently, industrial action.

“The minister simply refuses to provide any figures. We’re being asked to approve something when we have no idea what the benefits will be. 

"Just imagine that in a company: announcing cost-cutting measures without quantifying them. There are even rumours that the minister has the figures but doesn’t want to release them because they’re so disappointing."

ACV union’s Karel Vermeersch echoed these concerns. 

“The very least you can expect from a cost-cutting exercise is that someone calculates exactly how much it is supposed to save,” Vermeersch said. 

“We were promised figures in July, but now the minister claims that the institutions are unwilling to provide him with any.

"That points to a governance issue. The situation is very cynical towards the staff. The minister hasn’t even bothered to calculate the precise impact and is now passing the buck to the institutions."