10,000 new private-sector jobs in just six months’ time: change works

During the first half of this year, companies created 10,000 new jobs. Private-sector job creation had not boomed like this in Belgium since 2011. In that same period the public sector workforce shrank by 4,000 civil servants, a sharp reduction which had not been seen since 1996. “Yet another sign that the Michel government’s recovery policy is successful”, says Finance Minister Johan Van Overtveldt. “What matters now is that we keep the reforms and public finances on track.”

Jobs, jobs, jobs: that is how the federal coalition, of which N-VA is a member, wants to make a difference. Not just any jobs, to be perfectly clear, because the main objective is to first and foremost increase employment in the private sector. Our civil service, which ballooned under the Di Rupo government, must now urgently downsize.

Fewer civil servants
More jobs in companies and leaner, more efficient government: these are the two main premises of the policy with which this reform government hopes to bring about the long-awaited recovery. The figures that the Institute for National Accounts recently published clearly confirm that this policy is successful.

Specifically, during the first six months of this year alone the private sector created 10,000 new jobs. This strong growth is mainly to be found in the services sector. In comparison, more than 30,000 of these jobs disappeared under the Di Rupo government. The fact that there was any job growth at all during this period was merely due to the fact that the government’s workforce grew, a worrying trend in the eyes of both the N-VA and the National Bank of Belgium. After all, the money the government spends on the wages of civil servants cannot be used to address urgent social needs, for example in the healthcare sector to deal with population ageing.

Policy makes the difference
During the first six months, overall employment figures including additional jobs in the healthcare sector actually increased by 15,000 jobs. “Despite an ailing international economy, we are still succeeding in creating jobs”, Minister Van Overtveldt noted. “We are a small, open economy, but that does not mean that our policy cannot make a difference.”