Engineer again most attractive profession for Belgians
Engineer is again the most attractive profession for Belgians, just as in 2011 and 2019, shows a new survey with 3,000 respondents by HR service provider Randstad. Fisher and bicycle courier are considered the least attractive professions.
For the third time, Randstad polled to what extent Belgians would or would not recommend professions to their children or friends. An attractive salary, good working conditions, the work-life balance and job security remain the most important criteria for considering a profession attractive or not, according to Randstad.
“Although engineer is still a bottleneck profession profile, these results show that we can rule out that this is due to a negative image of the profession"
Although engineer is again seen as the most attractive profession, just as in 2011 and 2019, this preference is no longer as pronounced as in previous years. In 2011 and 2019, the profession achieved a score of 75 and 63 per cent respectively, compared to 56 per cent now.
“Although engineer is still a bottleneck profession profile, these results show that we can rule out that this is due to a negative image of the profession,” said Wim Van der Linden, spokesperson for Randstad. “The explanation must rather be sought in the difficulty of the various engineering studies. Furthermore, the specificity of the profession also makes it difficult to be replaced by other types of scientists, such as physicists and computer scientists.”
The profession of surgeon, which ranked 10th in 2011 and seventh in 2019, continues its rise and follows in second place with an attractiveness score of 54 per cent. The medical sector continues to be well represented with the professions of doctor and veterinarian in the top ten, respectively in third and tenth place. Just outside the top ten, physiotherapists and physiotherapists are ranked twelfth.
Least attractive professions
The study also shows that fisher and bicycle courier are the least attractive professions in Belgium. Only 17 per cent of the respondents consider them attractive professions and, in the case of fisher, as many as 56 per cent would not recommend the profession to friends or family. Other professions with low attractiveness include taxi driver, porter, industrial cleaner, domestic help and packer.
“The least attractive professions consist mainly of physical jobs, dangerous jobs and routine jobs,” stated Van der Linden. “The positive news is that even the least attractive occupations are still attractive to a group of people.”
Engineer of contractor Stadsbader © BELGA PHOTO FRANK ABBELOOS
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