In 2025, fewer than 1 in 10 Belgian employees resigned voluntarily. That is 9.61%, the lowest level since 2020, according to Securex. Good news for employers? Not quite.
Because less turnover does not mean more engagement. That was the core message of our webinar on recruitment and retention, where Niko Mpoutakis (HR and Operations Director at SyntraPXL) and Jari Kellner (Head of Talent Acquisition at Liantis) shared their view on a labour market that is shifting fundamentally.
“The world has genuinely changed, but our processes often haven’t”, said Niko Mpoutakis. “They tend to lag behind.” Three insights that will change how you work.
People don’t leave because of HR, they leave because of how their job is designed
Classic recruitment focuses on the CV, the degree, and a one-hour interview. What you don’t see from that: how someone performs under pressure, how they learn, how they collaborate.
SyntraPXL made a clear break with that model seven years ago. “We moved away from selecting on paper”, explains Niko Mpoutakis. “Instead, we focus on developing potential. What potential does the person sitting across from us actually bring?”
In practice, SyntraPXL assesses every candidate on three criteria:
- behaviour: what someone does, not what they say
- thinking level: potential, not degree
- values and team fit: is there a match with the organisational culture and the team?
“We’re not looking for the best candidate, but the right match for our context and team”, says Mpoutakis. “People don’t stay just for the job, they stay because of how they feel in their environment.”
Good people in poorly designed jobs don’t stay good. The quality of the work itself — autonomy, variety, and meaning — shapes engagement over the long run. And that engagement starts at recruitment: not based on what someone has done, but on how they think, grow, and work with others.
The Belgian labour market in 2026: less turnover, more stagnation
Belgium still sees net job creation. Vacancy rates remain high, and shortage occupations persist structurally. But what is declining is external mobility.
“People move much more slowly today”, confirms Jari Kellner of Liantis. “Not because they’re satisfied, but because they’re choosing security. Driven by economic uncertainty, geopolitical tensions, a rising cost of living.” The war for talent has become a war for certainty.
That caution comes at a price: silent disengagement, less initiative, retention without ownership. Only 1 in 3 dissatisfied employees actually leaves. The other 2 stay and carry that dissatisfaction into the organisation. Kellner calls it “quiet quitting”: employees do exactly what is expected of them, and nothing more.
The risk for employers is real. People who are formally still in post but have mentally already left protect themselves. They take no ownership. And you see this behaviour not in weak profiles, but in capable, loyal employees.
Want to prevent it? Work on the content of the job, not just the turnover rate.
Why a pay rise alone won’t solve the problem
Belgium has the highest tax wedge of all 38 OECD countries: 52%. For every €100 in employment costs, an employee takes home less than €50 on average. Classic pay rises are expensive for the employer and barely noticeable for the employee.
The Randstad Employer Brand Research 2026, the largest independent study of candidate expectations in Belgium with more than 11,000 respondents, confirms this. Once basic security is in place, people look beyond salary. Job content and leadership show one of the strongest increases as a decision-making factor: up 14 percentage points.
Exit interviews have been saying the same for years. Jari Kellner: “People rarely say ‘I’m leaving for €100 more gross’. Far more often we hear: ‘I’m not learning anything here. The job isn’t challenging enough. I see no prospects. I get little coaching or feedback, or I just don’t feel recognised.’”
Belgians choose their job first, then their employer. That means job branding today has more impact than employer branding.
How flexible remuneration and a cafeteria plan make the real difference
If classic pay rises are too costly and too invisible, what actually works?
“Employers are increasingly looking at flexible forms of remuneration and recognition”, says Jari Kellner. “Not because salary has become unimportant. But because employees expect employers to connect better with the life stage they’re in. Recognition today is far broader than just the money attached to it.”
Flexible remuneration gives employees the chance to structure their pay to match their situation: more take-home pay, more choice, less fiscal pressure. A cafeteria plan goes further. Employees choose the benefits most relevant to them, within a clearly defined framework. That sense of autonomy — “I have a choice, I’m seen as an individual” — makes a concrete, tangible difference.
For the employer, it is equally compelling. Flexible remuneration and a cafeteria plan are:
- fiscally more efficient than a gross pay increase
- simpler to manage than a patchwork of ad-hoc benefits
- stronger as a retention argument than a symbolic gesture
They don’t solve the problem of poor job design. But they do strengthen the relationship between employer and employee, and sharpen your proposition in the labour market.
Concrete steps to improve your recruitment and retention
Small changes already make a significant difference. Here are the most practical steps:
- recruit differently: centre behaviour, thinking level, and team fit, not just the CV
- run stay interviews: ask why people stay, not only why they leave
- organise proactive career conversations: don’t just promise development, build it in
- redesign job content: give employees more autonomy, variety, and real responsibility
- make internal mobility your first instinct: before posting a vacancy, check whether someone internally could be a match
- offer flexible remuneration: a cafeteria plan or mobility budget gives employees choice, without extra HR complexity
The labour market is changing. So are employee expectations. Employers who take that seriously and adapt their approach build organisations where people don’t just stay, they want to contribute.
Building the environment where talent grows
“Stop looking for the right people. Those mythical perfect hires don’t exist. What does exist is building the environment and culture where people can grow.” That was Niko Mpoutakis’s closing message at our webinar. We couldn’t agree more.
Curious how a cafeteria plan or mobility budget fits into your retention strategy?
Download our free guides
Sources: Securex Vrijwillig Verloop 2025; Randstad Employer Brand Research 2026 (over 11,000 Belgian respondents); Monizze webinar “Rekruteren en talent behouden: waarom klassiek loon niet meer volstaat” (May 2026) with Niko Mpoutakis (SyntraPXL) and Jari Kellner (Liantis).
