Belgium: a land of opportunity for pharma job seekers

Despite the inflationary context that has led to a slowdown in certain investment projects, sectoral recruitment remains quite high this year, with nearly 2,200 jobs to be filled, particularly in the biotech and biopharma sectors. The number of direct jobs in the sector in Wallonia and Brussels has been increasing for six consecutive years, with the creation of more than 3,800 net direct jobs over the period studied. In 2022, nearly 33,000 people will be working in the sector. The chemical and life sciences sector represents 1/4 of industrial employment in Wallonia.

Based on the creation of 635 net jobs on average per year during the period 2016-2022, and extrapolating to 2030, no less than 5,000 additional jobs could be created, bringing the total number of net direct jobs in the sector in Wallonia and Brussels to 38,000. The growth of employment in the sector is confirmed once again in the essenscia 2023 employment survey. Nearly 2,200 positions are open in Wallonia and Brussels for the whole year 2023. Of these, 1/3 are new jobs and 2/3 are replacement positions. The forecasts for the next 2 years remain similar, with approximately 2,000 positions to be filled per year.