At the end of September, the Belgian private sector had roughly the same number of jobs as a year earlier, according to the new Labor Barometer from SD Worx and Ortelius. The stagnation in job creation is an improvement over the year-over-year losses we saw at the end of last year and the beginning of this year, but it’s hardly news worth writing home about. Moreover, the divide in our economy persists: the service sector is performing reasonably well, with a gain of 12,500 jobs, while manufacturing and construction lost 13,000.
The manufacturing sector continues to take a hit: 8,100 fewer jobs in just one year. The construction sector (-3,400) and the energy and water sector (-1,500) have also seen job losses. High energy costs, fierce competition from China, and high labor costs continue to weigh on the competitiveness of Belgian industry.
When we break down job creation by company size, we see that medium-sized companies are leading the way. They added 3,400 jobs, while large companies eliminated the same number. Employment remained stable among smaller companies.
Regionally, too, trends vary. Flanders has 800 more jobs than a year ago. This is the second consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth, following a long period of decline. That decline was linked to the greater weight of industry and export-oriented activities in Flanders. Brussels is also performing better than before, with 700 additional jobs. In Wallonia, where job growth was still relatively strong in 2025, employment is 1,900 jobs lower than a year ago.
The Labor Barometer is based on SD Worx's wage data covering more than one million employees and is available even before the official figures are released.
