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The debate over the announced layoffs at GSK, which could potentially affect up to 1217 employees, raises questions about the conditions of public support for large companies, with disagreements between Gilles Vanden Burre of Ecolo and Frédéric Druck of Essenscia regarding the use of tax incentives. #GSK #Emploi #AidesPubliques (translated)

Covestro has announced it will cut 260 jobs at its site in Antwerp, while hundreds of employees are blocking access to the GSK sites in Wavre and Rixensart in protest against the announced layoff of 1,217 employees by the pharmaceutical group. #GSK #protestation #licenciements (translated)

Sander Sassen stated that entrepreneurs with debts to their own BV had not secretly funneled the borrowed money away, but had built it up from liquid assets that, according to him, had already been taxed. He wrote that for such loans, the same market-conform rules applied as for regular lenders and that they did not constitute free money, as repayment was mandatory. According to Sassen, the BV and the managing director-major shareholder had already paid taxes, and above the existing threshold of five hundred thousand, direct taxation in box 2 applied. Therefore, he believed that the loans did not provide an unfair advantage for entrepreneurs compared to those without their own business. Sassen warned that a reduction of the threshold to one hundred thousand retroactively would affect entrepreneurs who had already sold assets, sometimes their homes, to pay off debts after reductions in 2023 and 2024. According to him, they were often tied to long-term plans and could not repay more quickly. He stated that bankruptcies and job losses could be the consequence of this. Sassen also referred to the Dutch Association of Tax Advisors (NOB), which, according to him, anticipated a massacre among entrepreneurs who had reached their repayment threshold after the reductions in 2023 and 2024. He said that the proposal undermined existing agreements and urged politics not to further disadvantage entrepreneurs. #ondernemen #belasting #financiering (translated)

Jurgen Vluijmans stated that employees who earned more than 82,600 euros gross per year were disadvantaged, according to him, because they continued to pay social contributions above that income threshold without receiving extra rights in return. He said that this money disappeared into a "bottomless pit" and called for addressing this issue instead of targeting managing directors who organized themselves through a private limited company. #werknemers #socialezekerheid #rechtvaardigheid (translated)

Tadek Solarz wrote that KLM, according to him, moved the written customer service to the Philippines, which would lead to the loss of about 150 Dutch jobs. Filipino employees would answer Dutch customer inquiries using AI translation software. Solarz stated that KLM paid Dutch customer service employees about €2,650 gross per month, compared to an average of around €300 for similar work in Manila—a difference of almost 90%. He contrasted this development with calls from trade unions and policymakers for higher quality jobs and higher salaries. He also wrote that according to PISA research, one third of Dutch fifteen-year-olds did not reach the minimum level of reading proficiency. He warned that simple jobs were disappearing while the demands on employees were increasing, even though such work served as a stepping stone to the labor market for many people. According to Solarz, the economy was increasingly demanding higher qualifications, while a significant portion of the future workforce struggled with basic skills. #KLM #klantenservice #arbeidsmarkt (translated)

The seals rescue center Waddenzee is threatened with bankruptcy within two weeks without financial support from the province of Groningen and the municipality of Het Hogeland, putting the rescue of seals in distress and the jobs of forty employees at risk. #zeehondenopvang #Waddenzee #financiëlehulp (translated)

The Walloon Minister-President Adrien Dolimont has announced a decreasing job bonus, which can amount to up to 500 euros per year for employees with a gross income of a maximum of 5,000 euros, but the effectiveness of the measure remains questionable given the lack of a thorough evaluation of similar systems in Flanders and the need for serious monitoring. #Wallonie #PouvoirDAchat #JobBonus (translated)

The Walloon budget includes 1.3 billion euros in savings over three years to balance the budget by 2029, while maintaining family benefits, a bonus for employees, an ambitious infrastructure plan, and significant savings within public services, nursing homes, and municipal funds. #BudgetWallon #Economie #Wallonie (translated)

Booking wants to get its staff into the office at least two days a week, but faces resistance from three-quarters of the employees who prefer to work from home, resulting in legal action and the question of why the company cannot attract its own employees with the same incentives as customers. #Thuiswerken #Kantoor #Bureaucultuur (translated)

The author wrote that they were present at a climate march in Brussels that day. According to the author, the march was dedicated to the High Fens, the 3,000 people who died this summer from the heat, workers who had to continue working in nurseries, factories, and nursing homes without any cooling, and nature. https://t.co/x49ElTGpru #klimaatmars #klimaatverandering #natuur #BE (translated)

Around a hundred members of the free union Synova mobilized on Friday at the headquarters of AKT in Namur to protest against the inequality between the efforts of employees and the benefits for employers, while demanding better guidance of government support for sustainable employment. #Synova #AKT #EmploiDurable (translated)

In Berlin, thousands of workers in the renewable energy sector protested against the reforms of the Minister of Economy, Katherina Reiche, aimed at reducing subsidies for green energy, which is a sign of the change in Germany's energy policy. #EnergiesRenouvelables #ManifestationBerlin #RéformesÉnergétiques (translated)

The pension expectations for young employees at ABP can vary widely, with estimates being four times their current salary at best and half at worst, now that most pension funds have switched to a new system in which participants build their own pension pot and have to consider fluctuations in investment results. #pensioen #pensioenstelsel #financieelbeheer (translated)