Car and parts manufacturers unable to fill vacancies

Companies in Belgium’s car sector are having trouble filling vacancies, according to the technology federation Agoria. CEO Marc Lambotte said that the problem is structural.

In normal circumstances, Lambotte said, job vacancies for semi-skilled workers are filled within a month, and management vacancies within three months. But technical vacancies are taking twice as long, with some proving impossible to fill with the right applicants.

Lambotte (pictured) pointed to the 500 job vacancies advertised during the Motor Show in Brussels last January, only half of which have been filled, and to Punch Powertrain, which manufactures automatic transmissions in Sint-Truiden. In January, the company was advertising 150 vacancies; 80 have now been filled. In the meantime, 100 new vacancies have been added, bringing the number of available jobs to 170.

There is a light at the end of the tunnel, Lambotte said, but it’s some distance away. Efforts to encourage young people to study mechanical technology are showing some success, with increases in enrolments in both Flemish and French-speaking schools.

Photo courtesy Agoria