The annual report of the Flemish Economic Migration Service has revealed that the number of truck drivers, cooks and butchers coming from outside the European Union (EU) to work in Flanders has more than doubled in just one year.
This increase has been driven by a shortage of candidates in the European labour market for these occupations, which are on the occupation shortage list.
However, much-needed labour migration is still being lost due to unresolved language barriers and lengthy procedures, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.
Despite an increase in the number of vacancies at the Flemish employment agency VDAB since the second half of 2021, several professions still face a shortage of candidates in the EU.
Data show that there are too few healthcare professionals, cooks and butchers in the EU, making it necessary for employers to recruit workers from third countries for these roles.
As a result, the number of permits granted to workers from third countries has increased by around 90 per cent in 2022 compared to the previous year, VRT explains.
The annual report of the Flemish Economic Migration Service discloses that the number of permits granted has risen from 8,600 to around 16,100 in the last year.
The Flemish government has compiled a list of structural bottleneck occupations every two years since 2019 and currently, there are 234 bottleneck professions on this list, including bakers, truck drivers, and pipe fitters.
The most significant increase in the number of migrant workers has been recorded among those on the occupation shortage list.
Last year, over a third of non-European workers admitted to Flanders worked as truck drivers, chefs, healthcare workers and butchers. Almost half of these workers came from Türkiye and Morocco, while India was the most important country of origin outside the EU for care workers.
Despite the need for labour migration, employers face complicated procedures that can take too long, according to some employers. This issue is particularly acute for truck drivers, who face obstacles that prevent Belgian companies from effectively employing foreign drivers.
On arrival, a foreign driver must undergo safety training and pass a corresponding competence test. This test can only be taken in one of the country’s three national languages or in English, which can be a significant barrier for drivers who are not fluent in these languages.
Taking into account such obstacles, Trade Association Transport and Logistics Flanders are calling on Flemish employment minister Jo Brouns and Flemish mobility minister Lydia Peeters to immediately amend the legislation and allow an interpreter, once again.
The association argues that otherwise, useful labour migration will be lost to countries such as Germany, which do not give as much weight to these language requirements.
In response, Minister Brouns has emphasised the importance of drivers being able to safely follow the highway code.
Nonetheless, Ivan Claeys, president of the Butchers and Caterers, argues that the procedure to bring foreign workers to Flanders is too complicated and takes too long. Claeys states that there are no longer any Belgian butchers and that the meat industry is short of more than 10,000 workers.