Credit: MECO

The Economic Committee met on Tuesday 28 November 2023, under the chairmanship of the Minister of the Economy, Minister for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs), Energy and Tourism, Lex Delles, and the Minister of Labour, Georges Mischo.

During its meeting, the Economic Committee first analysed the economic situation and the labour market situation for the month of October 2023. The Economic Committee then studied the forecast requests for partial unemployment for the month of December 2023. The number of requests submitted increased by three units compared to the previous month. In total, 106 companies submitted a provisional request for partial unemployment in order to benefit from the provisions of this measure for next month.

After analysing the files submitted, the Economic Committee ruled favourably on 86 requests. Among these requests, 63 were from a cyclical source, fourteen were from a structural source, namely they were linked to a job retention plan, and nine requests were motivated by a link of economic dependence. These requests estimate the number of employees concerned at 9,829 full-time equivalent jobs (FTE) compared to 8,140 the previous month.

These figures are indicative and relate to the projected number of employees affected, so they do not represent a concrete indicator of the economic situation. This is why the Economic Committee now also provides information on the number of employees who actually benefited from the measure. This assessment can be done three months after the forecast requests made upstream. Indeed, once a forecast request has been favourably notified, companies have two months to submit a count of hours actually not worked to ADEM.

Concerning the requests for partial unemployment for the month of August 2023, notified during the committee of the month of July 2023, out of the 67 forecast requests advised favourably, 42 of them actually resorted to partial unemployment, of which four files are currently still under investigation; therefore bringing the number of acquitted cases to 38.

In total, of these 38 counts, out of 8,026 forecast FTEs announced for the month of August 2023, currently 1,320 employees, compared to 1,523 in July 2023, are actually unemployed, representing a workforce of 334 (FTE).

The actual declared non-working hours for the month of August 2023 amounted to €57,777, compared to €62,104 the previous month (July 2023).

The cost for the employment fund for the month of August 2023 amounted to €1,180,000, compared to €1,400,000 in July 2023.