The Government has approved the draft decree reforming the various employment aids into a single, digitalised mechanism focused on jobseekers furthest from the labour market.
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Through this new reform of employment aids, the Government aims to simplify, clarify and make its recruitment support system more efficient. In doing so, it continues to refocus employment policy on sustainable (re)employment, favouring solid jobs over temporary schemes.
The observation is clear: the multiplicity of existing aids – Impulsion -25 ans, Impulsion 12 mois+, Impulsion 55 ans+, SESAM, Tremplin 24 mois+… – makes the system complex and unreadable for employers.
Each scheme has its own eligibility conditions, sometimes cumulative, creating administrative complexity that may discourage employers or lead to windfall effects, without guaranteeing effective re-employment for jobseekers.
Thus, with an overall budget maintained, the objective of this reform is a complete overhaul of employment aid schemes, based on the principle of a single recruitment bonus, paid directly to the employer, built on four key principles: efficiency, coherence, accountability, agility.
How to achieve this?
The aim is to encourage employers to hire jobseekers furthest from the labour market by granting them a bonus to offset lower productivity (lack of qualifications, lack of experience, period of inactivity).
To reach the target audience, three entry points are defined:
- Young people (-25) and seniors (+57) after 4 months registered with Forem (maximum diploma CESS);
- Jobseekers registered with Forem for 12 months or more;
- Jobseekers registered with Forem for 24 months or more.
Employer eligibility criteria
As the general objective of this reform is to increase the Walloon employment rate, all sectors of activity established in the French-speaking Walloon Region will be eligible for the bonus: private commercial and non-commercial sectors as well as the public sector (except usual exclusions: governments and federal, community and regional administrations, OIP and education).
In line with the Government Programme, which aims to support small businesses and pays particular attention to private employment and entrepreneurship, an increase in the bonus amount will be provided for small businesses in the commercial sector with fewer than 20 FTEs.
One single tool = clarity, accessibility and automation
From 1 July 2026, a single digital platform, managed by Forem, will be the unique access point for employment aid for employees and the self-employed.
In practice, on one screen, the employer will easily view the various available aids and, with one click, know if they are eligible, obtain the bonus amount, with the aim of granting it within 48 hours.
As part of public policy evaluation, continuous monitoring will be implemented to measure the impact of the reform on key indicators such as job integration. The main objective is to adjust eligibility criteria and incentive modalities as early as possible according to economic conditions and the evolution of the employment rate of groups furthest from the labour market. Corrections can thus be made for any windfall effects and sources of inefficiency.
Finally, because these are jobseekers furthest from the labour market, enhanced support is essential to help them succeed in this professional transition, notably through training. Aware of this challenge, the Minister has launched a reform of training aids to offer schemes better adapted to business needs and thus fully support their commitment to reintegrating these groups into employment.