In Belgium, pensioners in side jobs now worked twice as many hours as younger so-called flexi-jobbers such as students.
People over 65 with a flexi-job increased by more than 50 per cent last year. They worked an average of 405 hours in 2024, compared to 186 hours for non-retired flexi-jobbers, according to figures reported by Belgian news agency Belga on July 10.
That was part of a wider trend seen in countries struggling with ageing workforces and labour shortages.
The shift was reportedly driven by the expansion of Belgium’s flexi-job system. Originally aimed at tackling staff shortages in hospitality, it was now being embraced by pensioners.
Across the EU, more people were working beyond retirement. A recent report by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, showed that 13 per cent of pension recipients were still employed in 2023 but the figures varied significantly.
Estonia topped the ranking at above 45 per cent, followed by Sweden, Latvia and Lithuania at more than 35 per cent. Belgium ranked lower, around 9 per cent, in line with France, Italy and Luxembourg.
Still, the Belgian data showed how much work pensioners took on when they did return to the labour market.
Flexi-jobs are a form of side employment for people who already have a main job of at least 4/5 time or for those who have reached retirement.
The scheme allowed extra income to be earned tax-free and without social contributions. Introduced in 2015, it initially applied to hospitality and retail but has since expanded to education, healthcare, agriculture, logistics and funeral services.
As of 2024, all sectors are eligible.
“Because it’s allowed,” Ghent University labour economist Stijn Baert told Brussels Signal when asked why more seniors were joining the system.
“Recent laws have steadily expanded the flexi-job framework into more sectors. That makes a difference.”
He highlighted that flexi-jobs were now encouraged through a raised income ceiling of €18,000 per year for workers.
For pensioners, though, the limits were looser: Those who have reached legal pension age (66 in 2025) or completed a 45-year career could earn unlimited income under the flexi system.
Early retirees faced a cap of €7,876 per year. Average annual working time for all flexi-jobbers was 219.1 hours in 2024, with average pay of €3,342.4.
Among over-65s, hours were more than double that and earnings rose accordingly.
While hospitality remained the most common sector for flexi-jobs among younger workers (45 per cent for under-50s), pensioners were now more active in transport and logistics, including as bus and car drivers, and in funeral services.
In total, 229,423 Belgians had a flexi-job in 2024, a 19.1 per cent rise on the previous year. Almost 98,000 of them were aged 25 to 39, the largest group. But the most rapid growth came from over-65s.
Gender patterns differed across age groups.
More men took on flexi-jobs after retirement, while in younger brackets, women were in the majority, at 52.3 per cent.
“Women combine work with other duties more often,” Baert explained. “Also, care was one of the first sectors where it was possible.”
The trend also tied into the broader structural issue of women receiving a lower pension than men in general, for various reasons.
As reported in The Conversation in November last year, women in the UK held 35 per cent less private pension wealth than men, a gap driven by career breaks, care responsibilities and lower average wages.
This gender pension gap was rooted in persistent income inequality over the life course.
Belgium’s broader labour and pension reforms may help explain the trend.
Since taking office in February 2025, the Belgian Government under Prime Minister Bart De Wever has introduced labour market measures, including a new schedule for annualised working time, six-month probation periods and a targeted €1 billion cut in labour costs.
Belgium remained one of the EU countries where early retirement was relatively common.
According to Eurostat, more than a third of Belgian pensioners opted for early retirement, one of the highest rates in the EU.
This may partly explain why, when retirees did return to the labour market under the flexi-job system, they tended to work more hours and earned more than their younger counterparts, experts said.
