Nearly 100,000 active job vacancies have been identified in Brussels and its suburbs. This unprecedented snapshot challenges preconceived ideas and invites us to rethink the way talent and employers come together.
When we talk about unemployment in Brussels, the dominant discourse often remains one of scarcity: too many job seekers, not enough opportunities. However, the job market landscape is beginning to change. On the initiative of Beci and Partena Professional, and thanks to the work of Beljob, a detailed analysis reveals a volume of job offers that no one really imagined: 99,237 separate listings, active over a year, spread across the capital and its wider socio-economic area of influence (Walloon Brabant and Flemish Brabant). This raw data says a lot about a region that is changing and a market that is more vibrant than it appears.
The diagnosis: the invisible part of the job market
To paint a picture of the situation, Beljob sifted through hundreds of thousands of pieces of content: listings posted on job sites, company pages, local portals... and above all social networks. Using a massive crawling system (a technique for automating data collection on the web) and artificial intelligence algorithms, the team first collected around 240,000 job vacancies published over a year.
After cleaning up the data – removing duplicates, harmonising job titles, geolocating – the final volume reached 99,237 listings. This is an impressive figure, but above all, it reveals how the market really works. As Maxime Bollengier, CEO of Beljob, sums it up: ‘Job vacancies exist, but they are often scattered and difficult to find. A growing proportion of them are now circulating on social media: the job market has changed.’
Nearly 75% of the identified job ads come from social media. Companies recruit where talent circulates, often via informal publications that bypass traditional channels. Another key finding is that a significant proportion of these vacancies are for ‘first skills jobs’, i.e. positions that do not require a high level of qualifications, which is exactly the profile of a large proportion of Brussels residents who are currently unemployed.
The Brussels paradox: between supply and demand
The latest figures from Actiris (end of October 2025) show that there are nearly 96,000 unemployed people in the capital. The situation remains complex, but it is not the deadlock it is sometimes portrayed to be. Between these 96,000 job seekers and the 99,237 vacancies identified, there is a gap, a margin for action, a path to explore collectively. Thierry Geerts, CEO of Beci: ‘This does not mean that everything will automatically fall into place, but this figure should restore confidence. It shows that there is real potential. Our role is to encourage, guide and raise awareness of these opportunities.’
The study also highlights the issue of mobility. A significant proportion of the vacancies are located in the socio-economic attraction zone of Brussels, where companies are actively recruiting. These are accessible positions, but still too far removed from the search habits of Brussels residents. To break down barriers in the market, it will be necessary to encourage travel, facilitate connections and provide better support for career transitions. ‘The challenge now is to bring job offers and job seekers closer together, but also to motivate Brussels residents to relocate,’ say Beci and Partena Professional.
The transformation: a market in transition
For Partena Professional, making these offers more visible means clarifying the playing field for employers. Roeland Van Dessel, CEO of Partena Professional, emphasises this point: ‘Brussels entrepreneurs have energy and projects, but they sometimes lack visibility on the job market. By revealing the extent of the actual offers, we give them concrete leverage to move forward. Clarifying these signals means supporting entrepreneurs and strengthening an ecosystem that is just waiting to flourish.’
Beyond volume, the challenge is readability. Today, much of the information circulates in the form of weak signals: LinkedIn posts, Facebook ads, messages shared between local groups. This is precisely where Beljob comes in, transforming these scattered traces into a usable map thanks to AI applied to language.
The potential is significant: by expanding sources, integrating services, and refining the detection of relevant content, this volume could even exceed 100,000 vacancies. But the goal is not to chase numbers. The challenge is to help institutions, businesses and job seekers better navigate a market that has become volatile, decentralised and fragmented.
The conclusion: a collective effort
With this study, Beci and Partena Professional offer a way of reinterpreting the Brussels job market without sugar-coating or casting a shadow over it. Yes, Brussels must continue to invest in training. Yes, generational changes must be supported, opportunities made more accessible, and yes, many of these opportunities are now available online. There are still many challenges, but they should not obscure the potential revealed by these data.
This first figure (almost 100,000 job vacancies) allows us to look at the market in a different way. It shows that there is fertile ground that can be cultivated, provided we act collectively: public and private actors each have a piece of the puzzle.
Read the press release : "Nearly 100,000 job vacancies: an opportunity to build a more prosperous Brussels Region"