Employment: 70% target, enhanced activation and bilingualism

Two years after the Audi Brussels closure: more than 1,500 workers relocated, Forest site still without a buyer (9 July 2026)

Two years after the announcement of Audi Brussels' closure (effective closure in February 2025, around 3,000 jobs lost), the CSC union published an assessment on 9 July 2026: more than 1,500 former workers from Audi and its subcontractors have found a new job or entered a training pathway, of whom more than 1,200 people mostly on permanent contracts. The union notes, however, that several hundred workers remain without a durable solution, without providing an exact figure.

The Forest site (55 hectares) still has no buyer. A takeover by Heylen Warehouses was initially expected before June 2026, but the deadline was not met. Brussels Economy Minister Laurent Hublet has said he wants to turn the site into an "economic acceleration zone."

Sources: CSC — official press release (9 July 2026); Bruxelles Today (9 July 2026). Confidence: official (union press release with precise figures, corroborated by the press).

DPR Commitments

The Regional Policy Declaration of 13 February 2026 sets ambitious employment targets:

• Target: 70% employment rate by the end of the parliamentary term (vs 63.9% in 2025, Statbel LFS annual)
• Enhanced activation of jobseekers
• Mandatory skills assessment for all jobseekers
• Language assessment upon registration, mandatory FR/NL training if skills are absent
• Promotion of bilingualism as a lever for employment access
• Dedicated Actiris unit for the Urban Free Zones (Port of Brussels + Audi Forest site): targeted support for industrial and logistics occupations in both zones

These measures respond to the inherited double crisis: the federal unemployment reform (42,000 exclusions) and the structural rise in Brussels unemployment (96,113 jobseekers in March 2026, after a peak of 98,458 in January). The gap between the 70% target and the 2025 level of 63.9% represents a required gain of more than 6 points within one parliamentary term.

Structural diagnostic: the scale of the challenge (Itinera study, 2006-2022)

The study "80% employment in Belgium" by the Itinera Institute (Jean Hindriks, UCLouvain), based on exhaustive administrative data from 2006 to 2022, reveals the scale of Brussels' lag.

Structural employment rate (18-64, admin. data): Brussels has an employment rate of ~55%, compared to ~74% in Flanders and ~65% in Wallonia. None of the 19 Brussels municipalities exceeds the European average of 74.1%. The north-south canal divide remains stark.

Gender stagnation: Between 2006 and 2022, women's employment in Brussels made zero progress (0%), while it rose +20.6% in Flanders and +11.9% in Wallonia. For men, the situation worsened (−5.8%). Brussels is the only region with this double-negative profile.

Youth dropout: Only ~25% of 18-24 year-olds in Brussels are employed (vs ~40% in Flanders). Crucially, youth unemployment is not converting into employment but into inactivity — these individuals are leaving the labour market entirely.

Massive inactivity: 34.4% of the working-age population is inactive in Brussels (1 in 3), compared to 1 in 4 in Wallonia and 1 in 5 in Flanders. Women of non-EU origin show a gap of up to 25 percentage points compared to Belgian women.

Childcare infrastructure: Brussels has only 18 childcare places per 100 children, a ratio that mechanically constrains female employment.

The gap between the DPR's 70% target and the structural reality of ~55% represents a 15-point challenge — well beyond the 6 points measured by the Statbel Labour Force Survey (63.9% in 2025). This difference is explained by methodology: administrative data are exhaustive, while the LFS relies on a sample with significant local margins of error.

Source: Itinera Institute — "80% employment in Belgium: where do we really stand?" (Hindriks & Douieb, admin. data 2006-2022).

2025 economic outlook: salaried employment falls, first decline in ten years (IBSA)

In its economic note published on 18 June 2026, the IBSA (Brussels Institute for Statistics and Analysis) confirms a deterioration of the Brussels labour market in 2025. At the end of 2025, the Region had 352,200 salaried residents, i.e. 4,500 fewer over one year (−1.3%). This is the first decline in more than ten years observed over four consecutive quarters. Temporary agency work is at a particularly low level in early 2026, comparable to that of the 2021 lockdowns.

According to the same note, the number of unemployed jobseekers rises by 4.7% year on year (the monthly Actiris series, presented below, relies on a slightly different administrative definition). In the first quarter of 2026, 1,412 people excluded from unemployment lodged an appeal, a sign of the pressure of the federal reform on Brussels residents and their CPAS centres.

Source: IBSA, relayed by L'Avenir and La DH Bruxelles (18 June 2026).

Unemployment March 2026: decline to 96,113 jobseekers after January peak

In March 2026, the Brussels Region had 96,113 registered jobseekers, corresponding to an administrative unemployment rate of 15.0% (+0.67 points year-on-year). This is a decline of −1,746 persons (−1.8%) from February (97,859) and −2,345 from the January peak (98,458). However, the yearly increase remains significant by age group: +9.1% for under-25s (+910 persons), +6.6% for 25-49s (+3,796), +5.5% for 50+ (+1,254).

At the end of February 2026, 20,792 jobseekers (21.2% of the total) depended on a CPAS, up +17.5% year-on-year — a key indicator of the cumulative pressure of the federal unemployment reform on Brussels CPAS centres.

Actiris warns that a "major statistical break" is imminent: the time-limiting of unemployment benefits will alter administrative categories and make time series partially incomparable from summer 2026 onward.

Sources: Actiris — Monthly figures (3 April 2026); DH (5 March 2026).

Unemployment May 2026: 93,732 jobseekers, and a 28% drop in benefit recipients driven by the federal reform

In May 2026, the Brussels Region had 93,732 registered jobseekers, a decline of −1,657 (−1.7%) over the month. At the same time, the number of benefit-entitled unemployed fell by 28%. Actiris explicitly attributes this drop not to an improvement in employment, but to the federal reform time-limiting unemployment benefits: people reaching the end of their rights stay registered with Actiris under other statuses in order to keep their support, which in the short term swells the category of non-benefit-entitled jobseekers. The agency anticipates a structural decline in the number of benefit-entitled jobseekers over the medium term.

This is the figures-based translation, at Brussels scale, of the announced "statistical break": the boundary between benefit-entitled unemployed, non-benefit-entitled jobseekers and CPAS beneficiaries is being redrawn as rights expire. The total number of jobseekers (93,732) therefore reflects only part of the ongoing shift.

Source: BRUZZ — Aantal uitkeringsgerechtigde werklozen in Brussel met meer dan een kwart gedaald (3 June 2026), based on Actiris figures. Confidence: official (Actiris data, press relay).

Welfare spillover: 28.1% actual CPAS uptake in Brussels, final warning wave on 1 July (23 June 2026)

On 23 June 2026, in the Chamber's Social Affairs committee, the federal employment minister provided the first measurement of the effective spillover to public welfare centres - CPAS. Based on provisional statistics from SPP Social Integration (first three waves of exclusions), 28.1% of Brussels residents excluded from unemployment actually turned to a public welfare centre - CPAS, compared to 30.4% nationally, 22.5% in Flanders and 36% in Wallonia. The figure is provisional: the delay between exclusion, application and administrative recording slows down the assessment, and the measurement captures neither cases under review nor non-take-up of rights.

The press reports a significantly higher rate in Molenbeek, around sixty-five per cent. The national record, above ninety per cent, concerns Seraing, in Wallonia, not a Brussels municipality.

The fourth warning wave of the reform falls on 1 July 2026 and concerns 7,654 Brussels residents (ONEM letters ending rights); the ONEM total projection of Brussels exclusions reaches 40,775 people. Ahead of this deadline, CPAS federations are calling for cushioning measures: a moratorium of at least six months, reimbursement of the integration income (integration income) at one hundred per cent for new cases linked to the reform, and an extension of the individual integration project (PIIS) from three to nine months. For the full institutional layer, see the Brussels CPAS dossier.

Sources: L'Avenir (Belga) — 30.4% of those excluded from unemployment turned to CPAS (23 June 2026); BRUZZ — Kwart van Brusselse werklozen klopte aan bij OCMW (23 June 2026); RTBF (Belga) — CPAS request temporary support measures. Confidence: official (SPP Social Integration estimate); the Molenbeek municipal rate is attributed to the press (unconfirmed).

Social Summit: employment among the 17 shared priorities (11 June 2026)

On 11 June 2026, the Brussels government and the social partners (Brupartners, the Brussels social-partner council) signed a socio-economic protocol agreement setting 17 shared priorities for the legislature, including — for employment — a 'strengthening and structuring of the support for jobseekers' and the revitalisation of the economy through an 'investment shock' and administrative simplification. Each minister must set up a steering committee by September 2026. Details in the Economy card. Source: La DH (11 June 2026). Confidence: unconfirmed.

Flexi-jobs: Brussels nearly absent from the national boom (6 June 2026)

According to 2025 figures from the ONSS (national social security office) reported by BRUZZ, Belgium counted 261,868 flexi-job workers in 2025 (+14% year-on-year) across 357,158 contracts — but only 3.2% of these workers live in Brussels, against 82.9% in Flanders and 13.8% in Wallonia. The average annual pay of a flexi-jobber is 3,644.60 EUR (median: 1,896.30 EUR): it is overwhelmingly a supplementary income, exempt from taxes and personal contributions, open to people working at least 4/5 time or pensioners.

The federal government plans to extend the scheme to all sectors from July 2026, reversing the logic: sectors will have to conclude an agreement to refuse flexi-jobs, where an agreement was previously needed to allow them. Trade unions criticise a scheme that, in their view, threatens permanent jobs and low-skilled workers — a sensitive issue in Brussels, where the unemployment rate remains the highest in the country.

Source: BRUZZ — Flexi-jobs minder populair in Brussel (6 June 2026), based on ONSS figures. Confidence: unconfirmed (ONSS data via press).

Median salary: Brussels leads, growing gap (March 2026)

The 2026 SD Worx salary barometer (400,000 payslips analysed) reveals that the median gross salary in Brussels reaches €4,200/month, compared to €3,585 in Flanders and €3,270 in Wallonia. Over five years, Brussels wage growth (+29%, from €3,256 in 2021) outpaces Flanders (+24%) and Wallonia (+22%).

This salary gap reflects the concentration of skilled jobs in the tertiary sector (EU institutions, financial sector, business services) but does not indicate real purchasing power, as housing and living costs are higher in Brussels. It coexists with an administrative unemployment rate of 15.0% (March 2026) and a structural employment rate of ~55%, illustrating the dual nature of the Brussels labour market.

Source: SD Worx / Trends-Tendances, March 2026.

Non-profit employment: ACS under pressure

The Subsidised Contract Workers (ACS) scheme — ~10,000 positions, ~6,700 active, consolidated budget €276M in 2026 — remains the main lever for subsidised employment in the Brussels Region. No new positions have been created since 2007. The reform launched in 2015 shifts the tool from structural support to activation policy, a move contested by the non-profit sector. On 3 February 2026, hundreds of non-profit workers demonstrated in Brussels for a sectoral social agreement. The RPD 2026 mentions the "continuation of ACS reform". The adjusted budget of 16 April 2026 (see below) preserves article 20 and drops the 95% harmonisation. See the dedicated dossier for the full analysis.

Unemployment June 2026: 14.6%, and welfare spillover to CPAS grows further

According to Actiris figures released on 3 July 2026, the Brussels Region counted 93,445 registered jobseekers in June (+3% year-on-year), for an administrative unemployment rate of 14.6%. Of these, 34,137 people (more than a third) were registered with a CPAS, up 83.5% year-on-year — a sign that the welfare spillover to CPAS documented over several months (see above) continues to grow. The number of benefit-entitled unemployed people fell by more than a third over the same period.

Source: BRUZZ (3 July 2026), based on Actiris figures. Confidence: the official Actiris press release for June 2026 could not be found at the primary source; the figures remain consistent with the May 2026 series (93,732 jobseekers / 14.6%).

Activa scheme abolished (3 July 2026)

On 3 July 2026, the Brussels Parliament voted to abolish the Activa.brussels scheme, majority against opposition (Ecolo, DéFI, PTB). This employment-aid scheme represented a budget of approximately €27 million in 2025 for 9,447 beneficiaries. Current entitlements are maintained until 31 December 2026; a new, "better targeted" scheme is announced for 2027, with a draft ordinance expected at first reading in September 2026.

See the dedicated Activa.brussels dossier for the full history of the scheme, the timeline of its abolition, the official grounds cited, and a note of caution on the exact attribution of a union statement referring to beneficiaries "mostly not Brussels residents".

Additional employment commitments (DPR, chapter 5)

The DPR contains additional operational commitments:

• Single file for jobseeker support: centralising follow-up between Actiris, Bruxelles Formation and partners
• ALE reform (Local Employment Agencies): modernisation of local employment schemes
• Abolition of the Actiris evaluation board: governance simplification
• Anti-discrimination testing in recruitment: mechanism to monitor discriminatory hiring practices
• Vocational training master plan: development plan for the training offer
• Social economy: regional plan for social economy development

These commitments have not yet been translated into implementation measures.

Structural context: Mini-Bru IBSA 2026

The Mini-Bru 2026 (BISA/perspective.brussels) provides structural data on the Brussels labour market:

The DPR target is an employment rate of 70% — a gap of 11.1 points vs the Mini-Bru 2024 baseline. The ILO unemployment rate (11.9% in 2024, 12.7% in 2025 per Statbel annual) differs from the Actiris rate (15.0% in March 2026) because it is based on a survey (people actively seeking work) rather than administrative data (registered jobseekers).

Among registered jobseekers, 41,652 people (45%) have been unemployed for more than 2 years — a particularly high indicator of structural unemployment.

Source: BISA Mini-Bru 2026 (Statbel LFS, Actiris, 2024 data).

Bruxelles Formation: 15,909 trained in 2025

Bruxelles Formation supported 15,909 jobseekers in 2025, an increase of +1.5% compared to 2024. The employment outcome rate after training stands at 72%, a slight decrease from 2024 (75%).

These results come in a context of high unemployment (96,113 jobseekers in March 2026, after a peak of 98,458 in January) and an expected influx to CPAS linked to the federal unemployment reform. The DPR provides for a "vocational training master plan" whose contours have not yet been specified.

Source: DH / Bruxelles Formation (17 March 2026).

Actiris leadership: transition underway (28 March 2026)

On 28 March 2026, Cristina Amboldi resigned as Director-General of Actiris with immediate effect. Appointed on a temporary basis in November 2025 (6-month mandate), she told Le Soir that "the framework for exercising the function no longer aligns with [her] vision" and that she was "never consulted" about the budget cuts. The breaking point: the rejection of her 2026 budget by the board of directors on 27 March.

Deputy Director-General Caroline Mancel also reaches the end of her term on 1 April 2026. The management committee ensures operational continuity. A recruitment process for both positions will be launched shortly.

The opposition (PTB-PVDA, Ecolo, DéFI) denounced the impact of the EUR 40 million in austerity cuts initially imposed on Actiris on public service quality, in a context of unemployment reform (42,000 exclusions) and a 70% employment target.

Source: BRUZZ / Le Soir / BX1 (28-30 March 2026). Confidence: official (Hublet cabinet + Amboldi interview).

Adjusted Actiris 2026 budget (16 April 2026)

Three weeks after the Management Committee rejected the first version (26 March) and Amboldi resigned (30 March), the Brussels government reached an agreement on Thursday 16 April 2026 on an adjusted Actiris 2026 budget. According to Employment Minister Laurent Hublet (Les Engagés), the initial €40 million savings effort on employment policies is reduced to approximately €28 million in 2026 (−€12M). Concessions obtained:

• First Employment Agreements (CPE): significant share maintained in Brussels administrations, "given the difficulties in accessing employment faced by many young people"
• Article 20 of the ACS scheme: preserved — no suppression of the derogation mechanism
• 95% harmonisation of ACS positions: dropped — differentiated rates maintained
• Actiris partnerships policy: integral ambitions maintained, €67M preserved
• Consolidated ACS budget: €276M in 2026

The Activa.brussels premium is confirmed abolished, replaced by a new scheme in 2027. The government cites a study showing its beneficiaries were mostly non-Brussels residents. Florence Lepoivre (FGTB Brussels) calls the Activa reform "perhaps the least problematic measure"; Julie Lambotte (UCM Brussels) stresses the need for a careful transition to the future scheme. The adjusted budget still needs to be presented to the Actiris Management Committee and translated into a regional budget adjustment voted by the Brussels Parliament.

Sources: RTBF (16 April 2026); Guide Social (27 March 2026); BX1 (Activa premiums).

Platform Worker Reclassification

On 13 June 2025, the Brussels Labour Court reclassified an Uber driver as an employee (not self-employed), citing the lack of genuine economic risk, the inability to set prices, and control through geolocation. While limited to the individual case, this decision is part of growing case law on platform worker status.

Source: Brussels Labour Court, 13 June 2025; Claeys & Engels.

Social tensions: national day of action, 12 May 2026

On 12 May 2026, a national day of action brought together between 40,000 and 70,000 protesters in Brussels (CSC, FGTB, CGSLB), amid a period of union mobilisation of exceptional intensity. Jean Faniel, director of CRISP, noted he had "never seen such a long sequence of strikes and protests" in recent Belgian social history.

Main demands:

• Opposition to the pension reform (examined in the federal Parliament on 13 May)
• Defence of automatic wage indexation against the risk of a cap
• Preservation of social protection amid the federal legislature's reforms
• Rejection of the bill on home visits (separate mobilisation outside party headquarters in Brussels)

Impact on Brussels mobility: STIB services (buses, trams, metro) were heavily disrupted. Shared scooters and bikes recorded usage twice the normal level (Bolt: 4,000 scooters at 6 rotations/day; total distance equivalent to 2 trips around the Earth).

Institutional reminder: pension reform and index policy fall under the federal government. The Brussels Region has no direct lever over these parameters. The impact on Brussels employment is indirect but real: the combination of the unemployment reform (40,775 exclusions per the ONEM projection sent to Brulocalis), pension reform, and index restraint increases pressure on low-income households, CPAS, and employment support services (Actiris, Bruxelles Formation).

Sources: La Libre — 12 May protest, Jean Faniel (CRISP) (12 May 2026); BRUZZ Mobiliteit — Shared bikes/scooters ×2 during the strike (13 May 2026). Confidence: press.

Actiris × VDAB cooperation stepped up: 2,000 → 6,000 Brussels residents supported (19 May 2026)

On 19 May 2026, La Libre reports that Actiris and the VDAB (Vlaamse Dienst voor Arbeidsbemiddeling, the Flemish public employment service) are stepping up their operational cooperation to help Brussels residents find work in the Flemish periphery (Rand). The joint scheme rises from 2,000 to 6,000 people supported — a tripling. The same day, BRUZZ confirms an institutional strengthening of Flanders-Brussels cooperation on access to jobs in the Rand. The move is consistent with RPD commitment actiris-delay (Actiris's operational capacity) and the long-term 70% employment-rate target.

Sources: La Libre (19 May 2026); BRUZZ (19 May 2026). Confidence: official.

Service vouchers: threat of mass redundancies in Brussels (18-19 May 2026)

In mid-May 2026, the press reports a threat of mass redundancies in the service-voucher sector in Brussels. According to La Libre (18 May), La DH Bruxelles (19 May) and L'Avenir (19 May), two ministers are passing the buck on funding the scheme (entangled regional and community competences). The sector — which mostly employs low-qualified women — is a structural component of Brussels employment; any disruption would have a direct impact on the employment-rate indicator and on CPAS via knock-on effects. Topic to monitor over time.

Sources: La DH Bruxelles (19 May 2026); La Libre (18 May 2026); L'Avenir (19 May 2026). Confidence: official.

Update (3 June 2026) — five-year transition period. The cabinet of the regional employment minister announced a five-year transition period (2027-2032) for the sector's social-economy firms. Through an ESMI mandate call open from 29 May to 10 July 2026, these organisations can apply to continue receiving employment aid for five years, subject to conditions. Fourteen organisations are concerned; the government now puts the number of jobs at risk at 400 (735 according to the sector), for a social-economy budget of €19M; 25 to 30% of the (mostly female) workers could shift to conventional service-voucher companies. Details in the Service vouchers / Social economy dossier. Source: BRUZZ (3 June 2026); La DH Bruxelles (3 June 2026). Confidence: official.

Newcomers: 7,631 people on integration pathway (19 May 2026)

La DH Bruxelles reports on 19 May 2026 that 7,631 newcomers are currently following an integration pathway in Brussels (BAPA Bruxelles — Newcomers Reception Bureau). The scheme includes French courses, civic education and socio-vocational orientation. The typical beneficiary cited by the article reports a favourable take: "Few say it has been of no use to them." The figure adds to the stock of integration indicators and echoes the Actiris × VDAB cooperation on labour-market entry.

Source: La DH Bruxelles (19 May 2026). Confidence: estimated (press figure, to be corroborated with BAPA institutional source).

Uber Eats couriers ruled self-employed by Brussels labour court (30 June 2026)

The French-speaking labour court of Brussels ruled, in three separate judgments handed down on 30 June 2026, that three former Uber Eats delivery couriers were validly self-employed, rejecting their claim to be reclassified as employees. The couriers had taken the case to court after the Administrative Commission for the Regulation of Labour Relations (CAR/CRA) had ruled in their favour in April 2024, finding that they should be reclassified as employees.

The ACV/CSC union calls the ruling "shocking" and "a step backward", noting that it contradicts: the same Administrative Commission's own 2024 finding on these same three couriers; two Antwerp labour court rulings (10 October 2024 and 4 February 2026) concerning another Uber Eats courier who had had an accident; a 21 December 2023 Brussels labour court ruling on Deliveroo couriers; and the opinion of the Brussels labour prosecutor's office (arbeidsauditoraat), which had also backed reclassification in this case. According to the union, only the multinational platforms benefit from this, amounting to unfair competition against platforms that treat their workers more fairly.

This ruling adds to the case law noted above (see "Platform Worker Reclassification"), where the Brussels Labour Court reclassified an Uber driver as an employee in June 2025: the status of platform workers remains contested case by case before Brussels courts.

Source: BRUZZ: Brusselse arbeidsrechtbank beschouwt maaltijdkoeriers van Uber Eats als zelfstandigen (30 June 2026). Confidence: official (court judgment); the union's characterisation ("shocking", "step backward") is attributed and does not reflect a BGM assessment.

Shortage occupations in Brussels: Actiris lists 103, pastry chef makes its entry (1 July 2026)

Actiris, the Brussels regional employment agency, published its new list of shortage occupations on 1 July 2026, i.e. occupations employers struggle to fill. Brussels now counts 103 such occupations, down from 106 last year, of which 81 are considered "structural". Nine occupations were added this year, twelve removed.

New additions include: pastry chef/chocolatier/ice-cream maker, flat-roof roofer, large-kitchen chef, ICT operations manager, legal officer, industrial electronics maintenance technician, truck and company-vehicle maintenance mechanic, vehicle technician, category-C truck driver. Occupations removed include: green-space worker, electrical-appliance salesperson, sales manager, financial analyst, building-maintenance manager, computer operator, health/social/penitentiary institution manager, HR manager, industrial technical inspector, quality-control manager, electronic-installation technician, buyer.

According to Actiris, the care/health and construction sectors suffer most from staff shortages; for technical shortage occupations, the issue lies more in a lack of the right qualifications. The list is built from vacancy data (at least 20 new vacancies within one year for a given occupation) plus sectoral consultations. Actiris sees this as pointing to a need for better alignment between training and jobseekers.

Source: BRUZZ: Patissier hoort nu bij de 103 Brusselse knelpuntberoepen (1 July 2026). Confidence: official (Actiris, primary administrative source).