In Flanders, the individuals looking for a job and travelling by train for the job interview will receive complimentary digital tickets for travelling with the objective of reducing the threshold for applying for a job.
In the last time, the similar tickets for the job seekers cost around just €1 per one-way journey, but to receive this, individuals had to physically pick it up at one of the Flemish employment service VDAB offices with proof of a job interview invitation, prior to five days.
Along with this, in 2021, 2,389 cheap application train tickets were requested.
The Flemish Minister of Employment, Hilde Crevits, mentioned, “For many job seekers, mobility remains an important barrier to applying for a job and going to work. For example, we see that only 60% of job seekers indicate in their profile on VDAB.be that they have a driving licence B or higher.”
She further added, “In order to tackle the shortage in the labour market, we want to remove as many of these barriers as possible so that people can more easily take the step to work.”
Moreover, rather than having to go to a VDAB office, where a staff member checks whether the individual in question is entitled to the reduction, a process which Crevits mentioned is “much too cumbersome”, job seekers can request a free ticket, valid for job interviews, selection tests or a training application, via the VDAB service line.
Crevits said, “A request can now even be made up to one hour before the jobseeker has to catch their train. In this way, we remove a barrier. ”
However, all of the individuals looking for a job will get the train ticket directly on the e-ID or as a PDF in an e-mail.
Furthermore, Wim Adriaens, delegated manager at VDAB, mentioned, “Many job seekers do not have a car to go and apply for jobs or take job interview tests. We must make the alternatives as accessible as possible. By offering train tickets digitally and completely free of charge.”
