Actiris to set up new employment platform for the health care sector

Brussels employment minister Bernard Clerfayt has asked the employment agency Actiris to develop a new project to make it easier for the unemployed to get a job in healthcare.

This request comes after the Flemish Employment And Training Service (VDAB) launched a new online platform with exactly the same objective: supporting the healthcare sector and reducing the number of unemployed.

“In the spring, during the first wave of coronavirus infections, there was mainly a shortage of equipment and material,” said an employment ministry spokesman. “Today, the shortage is in the number of workers in the care sector.” For this reason, Clerfayt has commissioned Actiris to set up something similar to the VDAB’s online platform.

On the Flemish platform, hospitals and residential care centres can place vacancies and temporarily unemployed people can sign up to help. Assessment staff of the VDAB will also look for candidates for the vacancies in the care sector. For the first time, the VDAB will approach the temporarily unemployed in a targeted way, using the data collected on each person to find those suitable for health care work.

The jobs that the temporarily unemployed could fill include preparing and serving meals, reception duties and visitor liaison, disinfection of equipment and cleaning, providing support in call centres and providing entertainment for residents and patients. The vacancies will be taken up on a voluntary basis, so the temporarily unemployed will not be obliged to accept offers made by the employment agencies.