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The port on the left bank of the Scheldt, as part of the port of Antwerp-Bruges, is one of the biggest forces driving the Flemish economy. However, geopolitical challenges and uncertainties increasingly impacted the day-to-day functioning of our economy in 2024. For the first time, this impact was also reflected in the employment figures of the port on the left bank of the Scheldt. Direct employment fell sharply, with 1,436 fewer full-time equivalents (FTEs) employed compared to 2023. With that, direct employment in the port on the left bank of the Scheldt has fallen back to 2019 levels. Indirect and overall employment also suffered the blows. This is evident from the results of the survey that Maatschappij Linkerscheldeoever (MLSO) conducts annually among the companies in the port on the left bank of the Scheldt.
Employment falls by 6.4%
For the past ten years, employment in the port on the left bank of the Scheldt has experienced tremendous and near-steady growth. In 2014, 16,327 FTEs were working in the port and in 2024, that number had risen to 21,017. An increase of 29%, in other words. Despite this positive long-term trend, the figures for 2024 show a more nuanced picture. The results of the annual survey of companies in the port on the left bank of the Scheldt show that around 6.4% or 1,436 FTEs fewer were employed in 2024 than in the most recent record year of 2023. At that time, 22,453 FTEs were employed by companies in the port on the left bank of the Scheldt.
Although maritime traffic still experienced spectacular growth in 2024, the chemical sector was under severe pressure and several companies announced restructuring. For the first time in years, this translated into an overall decrease in employment in the port on the left bank of the Scheldt. Hopefully, this decrease in employment will only be a temporary phenomenon, and not a fundamental shift.
Boudewijn Vlegels, Chairperson of MLSO.
What is striking is that, in 2023, only the number of agency works decreased, whereas in 2024, all categories recorded a decrease. The largest category, that of blue and white-collar workers, decreased by 786 FTEs in total. A large number of permanent jobs were therefore lost in the port on the left bank of the Scheldt. Compared to 2023, the number of agency workers fell by 352 FTEs, and the dock workers category also recorded a decline of 298 FTEs in 2024.
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Total employment probably follows the same trend
To arrive at an overall picture of employment, indirect employment of subcontractors/contractors, security guards, maintenance workers and drivers, etc. must also be taken into account. To estimate that indirect employment, MLSO has recourse to the calculations in the port study conducted by the National Bank of Belgium. For several years now, this study has no longer been conducted annually, so the most recent available factor dates from 2022 and is based on the 2020 financial statements of the companies in the port. Therefore, to calculate indirect employment in 2024, the most recent available factor was used: indirect employment is direct employment multiplied by 1.26. Total employment was obtained by adding direct employment and indirect employment together.
The decrease in direct employment made its presence felt in the figures for indirect employment (26,481 FTEs in 2024 compared to 28,291 FTEs in 2023) and therefore also in the figure for total employment. A total of 47,498 FTEs were working in the port on the left bank of the Scheldt, compared to 50,743 FTEs in 2023.
Impact of geopolitical and economic challenges is noticeable
A variety of factors gave rise to this overall decrease in employment. The malaise in the industry, meanwhile, is not an unknown and is linked to geopolitical challenges, such as the war in Ukraine, the disruptions in maritime trade and a structural competitiveness problem. But the ongoing automation of low-skilled labour in the logistics sector is also a non-negligible factor.
Finally, there are still many vacancies in the port on the left bank of the Scheldt. Witness the EGTS job fair at the Freethielstadion on 10 March 2025, where some 60 companies from the port on the left bank of the Scheldt publicised their vacancies. Indeed, replacements need to be made in many companies, not least due to staff turnover and the increasing number of retirements.
Annual survey makes comparison possible
To map the impact of the economy on employment in the port on the left bank of the Scheldt, MLSO annually surveys all companies with a port number in the Waaslandhaven. This survey gauges the number of persons employed in the companies during the past year, taking into account the different categories: blue-collar and white-collar workers, port workers, contractors and agency workers. Using the same questionnaire each year means that comparisons can be drawn between one or multiple years.
You can read the full report on employment figures in the port on the left bank of the Scheldt here.
