Anderlecht (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Former Audi Brussels Maintenance Coordinator Ruben Brondeel has transitioned to teaching at the Tienerschool in Anderlecht shortly after plant operations ended in February. More than 1,000 workers from Audi Brussels visited the job fair in Anderlecht as they sought guidance about potential new employment.
The job fair at Anderlecht hosted over 1,000 former employees of Audi Brussels who started their job search after the factory shut down in late February. The job fair brought together Ruben Brondeel, who previously worked as Maintenance Coordinator at Audi Brussels, after he started teaching at Tienerschool in Anderlecht.
The job fair attracted over 70 significant companies as well as major employers such as Brussels Airlines Colruyt and Volvo, to offer positions to skilled workers. The Minister of Employment for Brussels, Bernard Clerfayt, presented a positive outlook by referring to the successful placement of Van Hool workforce members as an indicator of future job placement success.
“It may seem like a completely different job, but I actually do the same thing as I do at Audi, namely working with people,”
he says.
“When I started looking for another job, I mainly wanted to do something with impact. The last few months at Audi I was managing production, but that was on the back burner, so it didn’t feel that meaningful anymore. I wanted to do something where I could throw myself completely.”
“Whether I will do this for the rest of my life, I don’t know yet,”
he admits, “but it is a new start, with searching. As a result, they are sought after by employers from various sectors, according to employment agencies Actiris, VDAB and Forem. “But there were also many people with a different profile working there, it remains to be seen whether they will also find a new job quickly,”
he says.
With the job fair, Brussels Minister of Employment Bernard Clerfayt (DéFI) hopes that Audi employees will be able to look back on a particularly difficult period with satisfaction in a year’s time.
“Three-quarters of Van Hool employees have already found a job after a year of bankruptcy. We want to achieve the same result,”
he says.
“These job days always work very well, but certainly today: more than 6,000 registrations, that’s actually quite a lot of people. At the moment, there is still an unemployment rate in Brussels of around 15 percent. That is why it is important to continue organizing such days,”
concludes Actiris.
What is the employment landscape in Brussels following major factory closures?
The employment challenges in Brussels continue to rise as the current unemployment rate reaches approximately 15%, placing it among the top unemployment rates in Belgium. The shutdown of Audi Brussels affected more than 3,000 employees just as the 2023 closure of Van Hool resulted in job loss for 2,500 workers. A year after Van Hool’s workforce reduction, authorities discovered that 75% of the employees secured new positions, and they now aim to achieve similar success with Audi’s former employees.
Aerospace, together with logistics and manufacturing sectors, actively recruit skilled workers because they make up most of the regional job demand in this area. Brussels Airlines, together with Safran Aircraft Engines and Volvo, actively seek displaced factory workers for their workforce. The job possibilities in Brussels are challenging for non-technical staff members because service positions generally require distinct qualifications.
The Anderlecht job fair gathered 6,000 participants and 70+ employers while serving as an essential connection between job seekers and employers. Data from Actiris reveals that public employment service offices in Brussels confirm high job placement rates at events, but the problem continues with difficulties between language needs and professional qualifications. Policymakers work to safeguard the economy from enduring harm due to Audi’s plant shutdown by establishing recruitment and training programs to boost job reemployment.
