Yet it is legally established that every Belgian company must invest in training at company level.
More than four in ten employees do not know whether the company has a training budget.
A Belgian employee follows little training within the framework of their employment contract. A survey by Acerta among 2,000 employees shows that 31% of Belgians followed no training at all in the past year. A quarter of employees followed one general training in the past year that broadens the knowledge of their field. Twenty percent received only one technical training that goes deeper into a specific subject.
The differences between men and women are very limited in terms of the number of 'general training courses'. For 'technical training', men score better than women: 53% of female respondents say they did not receive any technical training in the past year, while 49% of male respondents answer the same. Seniority and age also do not seem to be decisive for access to training organised by the employer. It is also striking that older employees are given training opportunities too. Annelies Baelus, Director Open Opleidingen at Acerta: 'Employers have clearly understood that older employees also need training in the context of sustainable employability. What's more, the older an employee is or the more seniority they have, the more they are in the driver's seat to determine which training they want to follow.'
By region, we also note some differences: in Flanders, 1 in 4 indicate they received no training during the past year; in Brussels this figure rises to almost 30% and Walloon employees are the most likely to receive no training: no fewer than 38% of respondents say they followed no training at all during the past year.
Source: Acerta