SNCB continues recruitment drive: 1,600 job offers in 2023
SNCB is continuing its massive recruitment drive in 2023: this year, the railway company is looking for 1,600 new employees (M/F/X), mainly operational staff such as train drivers, train attendants and technicians. Despite a tight labour market, SNCB is managing to recruit, thanks to the many efforts made in recent years: 1,300 new employees have joined the company in 2022.
2023: a major challenge in a tight labour market
Of the 1,600 job offers in 2023, many are for staff in direct contact with passengers. For example, SNCB is looking for 350 train attendants, while around a hundred vacancies are aimed at people who will be working in stations (deputy station managers, sales agents) or in customer services.
In addition, SNCB is looking for 500 technical profiles to work in its workshops, 180 train drivers and 100 agents for the Securail security service. There are also vacancies for architects and construction profiles (such as site managers) or for lesser-known and less visible rail jobs, such as those in the beams, large parking areas where trains are prepared for departure.
SNCB already selected more than 300 people at the end of last year to fill the 1,600 vacancies up to 2023. These new members of staff will therefore be able to start work over the coming weeks and months: half of them will start in January. Having already selected these people last year will enable them to be deployed more quickly to strengthen the teams on the ground.
These figures are an initial estimate based on the number of vacancies and the number of departures expected this year.
Additional efforts
It is not easy to fill all these vacancies in a tight labour market like the one we are experiencing today in several regions. Efforts will be made throughout the year, ranging from various recruitment campaigns to Meet & Greet trains, as well as attending employment-related events and working with Forem, Actiris, Bruxelles Formation and the VDAB.
SNCB and HR Rail are also constantly striving to make the selection process simpler and more efficient. Last year, for example, diploma requirements were relaxed for all operational functions as part of a pilot project. Training capacity has also been increased, so that new employees can almost always start their training immediately.
2022: more than 1,300 new employees
All these efforts are producing results and enabling SNCB to find the staff it needs. Last year, there were twice as many applications as the previous year: more than 1,300 new employees were recruited, including 320 train attendants, 300 technicians, 160 train drivers and 70 security guards for Securail, among others.
Of the new employees recruited in 2022, 28% are under 26, 11% are over 50 and a quarter of the new colleagues are women.
Most of the new recruits are still in training. For all typical railway jobs, such as train attendant, train driver or technician, candidates undergo paid training provided by SNCB. For more information on the various SNCB professions, visit sncb.be/jobs.
