Belgium’s temporary work market reported a 4.7% decrease in demand in the first quarter of 2019 when compared to the previous year, according to the latest report on the labour market from Federgon, the Belgian Federation of Staffing Agencies.

Federgon said the negative trend can be explained by, among other things, Belgium’s tense labour market and the difficulty in searching for suitable candidates.

In the first quarter of 2019, Belgium’s economy grew by 0.3% compared to the last quarter, and by 1.2% on an annual basis. Unemployment fell by 4.1% on an annual basis while the vacancy rate stood at 3.6%, indicating that job vacancies in the country have been difficult to fill.

Federgon’s report also showed that growth in the Interim Management market grew in the first quarter with the number of assignments rising by 4.5% in Q1 2019.

Meanwhile, revenue within Recruitment, Search & Selection companies saw growth of 3.3% in the first quarter of 2019.

Within Learning & Development, growth stood at 0.2% in the first quarter. Project Sourcing activities showed growth of + 9.4%. Federgon also reported a fall of 5.4% in outplacement activity.