Flanders to the world's top

Voka, Flanders' largest entrepreneurial network, is working on a plan to sustainably strengthen the Flemish economy and society. The 'Plan Samen Groeien' resolutely advocates healthy and shared growth. The ambition is to have Flanders at the top of the world by 2030. This will require achieving an employment rate of 85%. There are four key factors to make this happen: working healthier, longer, more future-oriented and more inclusive.

This is not an easy task. A lot of Flemish companies want to grow, but are having difficulty filling their vacancies. Because of changing demographics, that problem is not going to get any smaller. So we need to do more to get people working. More people working is not only important for our businesses and economy. Working is also the key to a healthy, inclusive and prosperous life for every citizen. Those who work are far less likely to fall into poverty. Working additionally contributes to personal development and mental well-being. Finally, it is important for the society as a whole to have as many people as possible working. An aging population means that spending on pensions and care has been increasing every year for some time. Continued access to quality care can only be ensured with enough participants in the workforce.

Therefore, Voka's ambition is to raise the Flemish employment rate to 85% by 2030. Specifically, this means that an additional 356,000 people must be put to work. In doing so, we deliberately set the bar high. Guide countries like Sweden, the Netherlands and Switzerland are showing the way. This can succeed if we resolutely draw the card of healthier, longer, more future-oriented and inclusive work; the four key factors.

Working healthier: more than 240,000 people in Flanders are long-term sick. That is far more than the number of Flemish unemployed. By avoiding long-term sick leave and reintegrating the long-term sick into the labor market on a sustainable basis, we can increase the employment rate.

Working longer: in Flanders, only 55% of 55-64 year olds are working. This can and must be improved.

Work more inclusively: disabled workers end up too quickly in inactivity, while they often can and want to contribute to our economy. In addition, we must better facilitate the integration process for workers of foreign origin. Finally, low-skilled workers also fall by the wayside too quickly, while they too are an important piece of the puzzle in tackling labor market shortages.

Future-proofing: what skills will our workforce need in the future? To ensure that workers have the right skills, we must optimally align our education system with the labor market. The outdated linear adage "first learn then work" must be replaced by a circular process of lifelong learning to work better and differently.