Redundancies in Belgium rising sharply, study reveals

People working in Belgium are more and more likely to be made redundant, according to a new study by human resources and social security company Securex.

The research shows that the number of involuntary redundancies in Belgium is at its highest level for five years because so many companies have gone bust.

In 2024, some 5.64% of permanent contracts were terminated involuntarily, the highest level recorded in the last five years. This rate is even more than the 5.25% rate seen in 2020 at the heart of the Covid-19 pandemic.

With 6.9% of involuntary departures, Wallonia has the highest redundancy rate of the three regions. Brussels, which remains stable, is at 6.17%, while Flanders, for the first time, recorded a rate slightly above 5% (5.11%).

The reason for the involuntary redundancies is the sharp rise in workers being losing their jobs as a result of companies going bankrupt. The most recent blow was the news that homeware retailer Casa, originally a Belgian brand before being bought by Dutch Blokker, would have to close all its 63 shops.

In 2024, about one in 12 workers who were made redundant lost their job due to business failures, three times more than in 2023, Securex notes, with this trend likely to continue in the short term.

“In recent years, companies have been faced with several major crises. The impact on employee departures was less noticeable immediately after the Covid-19 crisis, thanks to protective measures,” Securex director Frank Vander Sijpe added.

“Now that these measures have come to an end, the impact of the current crisis is becoming increasingly obvious.”

Last year, a record 11,067 businesses were declared bankrupt, the most since 2013, Securex spokeswoman Nathalie Mertens said. “This is linked to the fact that businesses, especially SMEs, are receiving less help from the government than they did after Covid.

“They also have to cope with much higher salary costs and an economic, political and social context that is still fairly uncertain,” she said, adding that notably rising energy prices could explain some of these bankruptcies.

But she added: "It’s not all doom and gloom. Belgium still has more than 150,000 job vacancies. This still gives people who have been made redundant an opportunity to look for a new job.”