live and work in Wallonia

Easily accessible from France, Belgium is a country that is both close and terribly exotic. Focus on Wallonia, the region is French-speaking and offers great alternatives to Brussels, as this Frenchman from Liège explains.

A step aside. We think of Brussels but do we know that Wallonia, south of the capital, offers a remarkable quality of life? ? Namur, Charleroi, Mons, are the large Walloon cities. Jean-Philippe Mousnier lives in Liège. Former sociologist, president of the Club des Expats Français de Liège, the Frenchman is now retired. Liège may well be in Belgium, he says, but here we don’t feel like we’re abroad. :

“Not only do people speak French, he said, listen to French music, have French culture. I often go to Paris, I come back to Liège. And I don’t feel like I’m crossing a border and being abroad. It is French life which continues fully. You are in a cultural bath which remains absolutely the same as the French cultural bath.”

Wallonia is ideally located on the borders of Germany, France and Luxembourg. In Liège, the Frenchman testifies, the cultural scene is bustling.

“Belgium in general has a very strong cultural offering, he asserts, and in Liège in particular, we are lucky to have a royal opera, a royal philharmonic orchestra, a prestigious theater and around fifteen galleries and stages which put on shows all year round. We don’t know where to turn ! Plus, these shows often focus on the same dates, which makes it quite difficult to keep up with everything that’s going on.”

The hotel and catering industry is struggling

In Wallonia, job opportunities are numerous, particularly in space, pharmacy or the cinema sector, particularly virtual reality.

“Belgium has an extraordinary advantage, assures Jean-Philippe Mousnier, the university is in the middle of the economic fabric. So emerging companies are sponsored by the university, associated with research laboratories, and this develops the innovation side in a very strong way.”

Health and social action are also on the rise, due to the aging of the population which is not sparing Wallonia. The trade and transport sector, as well as industry (particularly manufacturing) and construction, are also very buoyant.

Other sectors are hiring, notably services with information and communication (IC), financial and insurance activities as well as real estate. Finally, the Horeca, hotel, restaurant and café industries are constantly recruiting employees. Faced with the shortage of workers, Wallonia recently asked the Belgian Prime Minister to be able to regularize undocumented immigrants, capable of occupying professions in shortage.

“In all sectors where seasonal labor is used, students first, staff in transit later, undocumented immigrants last, there is a huge shortage. Restaurant owners are forced to close the noon, he said, to only open a few days a week, due to lack of staff.”

In Wallonia, most jobs are salaried jobs. Due to its territorial and linguistic proximity to France, the region is also a privileged place for cross-border exchanges, in particular with the adjoining region of Hauts-de-France. Belgium currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union.

Go further

The association “Club des Expats Français de Liège”

Find this column on the site, the app, and in the international mobility magazine “Français à l’enseignement.fr”