A report from the Social Economic Council for Flanders identifies a great shortage of plasters and roofers. Few are the Flemish youngsters eager to embark on training for these professions, while the number of training courses isn’t sufficient either. Employers are often obliged to look further afield to find qualified workers.
These are professions Romanians and Poles are still eager to undertake. Speaking in the daily De Tijd Rudy Evens, CEO of roofing firm Tectum Group, says he can hardly find any staff that have been trained here. He organises his own training courses. Most of the candidates are refugees and asylum seekers. “Belgians are no longer at the front of the queue for jobs like these that require quite a physical effort”.
The shortage of plasters and roofers has two main causes. Fewer training courses are being organised and fewer people are eager to undertake such courses. In secondary schools a lack of courses means fewer people are being trained for these professions. There is also a shortage of road workers and carpenters.
The building sector is an important employer. Flanders boasts some 7,000 roofers – around 7% of all construction workers, but this year only 37 pupils are in training for this profession. 25 are in a training course that is being dropped.
There are not enough training courses for construction site machinists either. In East Flanders there is a shortage of training courses for carpentry, interior and carcase construction. Across Flanders no training courses are organised for scaffolders, plasters, construction technicians or roadworkers.
The Social Economic Council for Flanders says schools and employers should sit together and ensure training courses meet industry needs.
A further point of attention is energy transition. The installation of heat pumps and the necessary renovations linked to this will require a large workforce. The council argues more students need to be encouraged to embark upon studies for sanitation and heating.