Management, retention and recruitment

Over half of small and medium-sized enterprises in Belgium (52.5 per cent) plan to take on additional staff this year – way more than in previous years – with more than one in three SMEs feeling positive about the economic outlook for the coming six months and one in four feeling less optimistic. Nearly six in ten Belgian SMEs will try to cut costs further over the next six months given the turbulent and challenging economic conditions. These findings come from the half-yearly SME Employment Barometer [‘KMO Werkbarometer’] published by HR service provider Acerta and business organisations ETION and VKW Limburg.

Twice a year, Acerta and business organisations ETION and VKW Limburg survey the future expectations of Belgian SMEs employing between 5 and 100 staff. When gauging SME owners’ outlooks for the next six months, they found that the challenging economic conditions have led companies to focus less on growth and more on cost control (58.3 per cent) and efficiency. This is mainly reflected in internal staff reorganisation (31.3 per cent), postponed recruitment (24.4 per cent) and a relatively high number of expected redundancies. 15.3 per cent of SMEs expect to have to lay off employees on permanent contracts in the next six months.

On a more positive note, the figures also revealed that over half of SME owners (52.5 per cent) plan to recruit additional staff over the next six months – the highest level since the launch of the SME Employment Barometer in 2021.

This is especially remarkable given the rapid developments in AI, which are eliminating certain roles or changing the way they are performed. Moreover, 13.2 per cent believe they will be able to attract these employees ‘(very) easily’, which is almost twice as many as in the previous survey six months ago, when barely 7.3 per cent considered the search to be ‘easy’. However, this optimism doesn’t change the fact that 60.4 per cent still have a very hard time bringing the right talent on board.

Kathelijne Verboomen, Director of the Acerta Consult Knowledge Centre: “This increased appetite for recruitment demonstrates just how resilient SMEs are. Business owners realise that the current turbulent economic climate is the new normal they must operate in, where unpredictability is the only certainty. Slowly but surely, they are adapting their businesses to this new reality, exploring new business opportunities and scouting for suitable talent. Meanwhile, our barometer adds some nuance to the dominant discourse on AI: SMEs mostly expect artificial intelligence to improve their operational efficiency in the short term (55.6 per cent), while the expected impact on job losses remains limited for now (16.3 per cent).”

Geert Janssens, Chief Economist at ETION: “The results show a remarkable combination of realism and confidence. To prepare for an economically uncertain environment, SMEs are increasingly focusing on efficiency, digitalisation, and cost control, while continuing to invest in people. The record number of businesses looking to recruit additional staff indicates that many business owners still see opportunities for growth. The challenge will be to combine technological innovation, including AI, with investments in skills and productivity. This is the only way SMEs will be able to sustainably strengthen their competitiveness.”

The appetite for recruitment may have increased, but recruitment is by no means easy. Finding and retaining talent remain by far the most significant HR challenges for SMEs. Nearly six in ten SME employers (57.5 per cent) rank attracting the right staff as one of their top three challenges for the remainder of 2026. Retaining staff (47.5 per cent) comes second, followed by promoting mental well-being (36.8 per cent).

Kathelijne Verboomen: “When asked which HR areas SME owners intend to invest in over the next six months to address these challenges, 36.9 per cent put ‘employee training and development’ at the top of the list. Investing in reskilling and upskilling helps ensure employees remain employable in the long term and prepares them for new roles and tasks. In turn, employers seek to mitigate absence by investing in ‘well-being, working conditions and prevention’ (25.8 per cent). Just under 23 per cent of employers intend to invest in ‘digitalisation and/or automation of HR processes’ to meet the demand for suitable talent.”

Ruben Lemmens, Managing Director of VKW Limburg: “The fact that, despite the challenging economic context, SMEs remain ambitious in their recruitment efforts speaks volumes about their entrepreneurial spirit and strong focus on growth, and that deserves recognition. At the same time, we see that, despite the slight easing of the peak in labour market tightness, it remains incredibly hard for most SMEs to find suitable staff.”

“It’s great that so many businesses are investing heavily in training and development. Rather than just looking for short-term solutions, they are actively building long-term employability and the jobs of the future. That is precisely why the government must do everything in its power to ensure that running a business remains feasible: through simplified regulations, more efficient licensing procedures and by minimising the administrative burden as much as possible, including in the context of pay transparency legislation.”

The struggle to find suitable staff, combined with the less-than-optimistic economic outlook (23.1 per cent of business owners are somewhat to very negative), has led SMEs to focus more on managing staff expenses. Although nearly one in three business owners (29.8 per cent) do not intend to take measures to curb staff expenses, 31.3 per cent are reorganising tasks and roles within the company. Almost as many SMEs (27.2 per cent) are turning to digitalisation and/or automation to cut costs, while 23.9 per cent plan to postpone or limit recruitment.

De gegevens zijn het resultaat van de recentste KMO Werkbarometer die Acerta in samenwerking met de ondernemersorganisaties ETION en VKW Limburg twee keer per jaar organiseert onder kmo-werkgevers (tussen 5 en 100 werknemers). Aan deze editie van mei 2026 namen 308 respondenten-kmo’s deel.