Mentoring promotes equal opportunities and builds connections among citizens. The 2024 election context presents a significant opportunity to make employment mentoring a key tool for future governments. DUO hopes that Belgium defines a legislative and funding framework in order to structurally deploy employment mentoring across the country to:
👉 provide individualized support to every job seeker who needs it
👉 improve access to employment and promote equal opportunities
👉 encouragecontinuous learning
👉 strengthen social cohesion
Current Challenges
A an 80% employment rate is necessary to guarantee social security, given the aging population. The federal and regional governments have set this ambitious goal by 2030. Yet, under current circumstances, this employment rate is unattainable.
Belgium is facing a growing labor shortage. Across all sectors, 184,000 positions are awaiting candidates. At the same time, half a million people are looking to enter the labor market in Belgium.
On average, the employment rate of people from immigrant backgrounds from outside the European Union is 20 percentage points lower than that of people of Belgian or European origin. Furthermore, the proportion of people from outside the European Union is growing.
For those aged 50+, career-end arrangements, employability, and lifelong learning have become priority areas given thelengthening of careers.
On a societal level, we are observing a growing polarization of society, a lack of connections between generations and between different social groups, which generates considerable tensions..
Our Recommendation
We call on the next governments to establish a legislative and financial framework to systematically deploy employment mentoring in Wallonia and Brussels, and:
- offer individualized support to every job seeker who needs it
- improve access to employment and promote equal opportunities
- encourage continuous learning
- strengthen social cohesion
What did the various political parties think?
Between spring 2023 and the regional and federal elections in June 2024, DUO for a JOB met with the main political parties to discuss mentoring and its impact. PS, MR, Les engagés, PTB, Ecolo, Défi – all are enthusiastic, unanimous, and support our efforts.
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