Yes, you can switch careers into IT in Belgium, but not into any role and not in a few weeks. The realistic entry points are the roles where your previous experience still counts: IT support, software testing, functional analysis, data, or a technical role in the sector you come from. Expect months of training rather than weeks, and use the public routes that make it affordable.
Here is what the official shortage lists really say, what employers check when your CV has no IT job on it, and which training routes exist in each region.
Is the IT shortage good news for career changers?
Partly. The VDAB 2026 list of shortage occupations in Flanders includes software developer, software tester, data engineer, system and network administrator, ICT security specialist and ICT support. In Wallonia, Le Forem lists software developer among its 2026 shortage occupations, with a medium level of tension. The details are in our analysis of what the official IT shortage lists actually say.
The same VDAB report adds three caveats that matter more to a career changer than the list itself. Vacancies sent to VDAB fell by 9% in 2025. The number of highly educated starters among jobseekers rose by more than 30% in a year. And VDAB warns that AI systems may take over more entry-level tasks. A shortage often means that candidates lack the right experience, not that there are no candidates. In other words, the gap is for people who can be productive quickly. Your job is to become one of them.
Which IT roles are realistic after a career change?
The roles where what you did before is an asset rather than a gap:
- IT support and service desk: customer contact, patience and languages count as much as technical depth, and the role is a classic first step towards system administration
- Software testing: method, rigour and knowledge of how users behave, with a path towards test automation
- Functional or business analysis: translating a business need into requirements, where years spent in finance, logistics or healthcare are exactly what is missing in many IT teams
- Data analysis: spreadsheets, reporting and a business question to answer, before the more technical data engineering roles
- Software development: the most demanding route from scratch, realistic if you are ready to build and show real projects
The shortest route is often a bridge role in your own sector: the accountant who moves to an ERP project, the engineer who moves to industrial automation, the nurse who joins a hospital software team. You change jobs without starting from zero. Our technology hub gives an idea of the profiles companies recruit for.
What do employers check when your CV has no IT job on it?
Proof, mostly. A certificate shows you followed a course, a project shows you can do the work. Expect a technical assessment for most technical roles, and prepare for it as you would for an exam.
Employers also look at three things career changers tend to undersell. Your languages: in Belgium, French, Dutch and English open or close many support and analysis roles. Your domain knowledge: say clearly which sector you know from the inside. And your reliability at work: years of employment, even outside IT, show you can deliver in a team.
Put the projects first on your CV and translate your past experience into the vocabulary of the target role. Our guides on writing a CV that passes both humans and AI filters and on optimising your LinkedIn profile show how. Be open to a contract-to-perm role: for an employer, it lowers the risk of hiring a profile without IT experience.
How long does a switch into IT take?
Plan in months. There is no reliable average, because it depends on the role, the hours you can put in and what you already know. A support role asks less training than development, and a bridge role in your own sector less than a complete change.
One useful reference point: the individual vocational training in a company, the IBO in Flanders, lasts from 1 to 6 months. It gives an idea of how long employers themselves expect on-the-job training to take, after you have learned the basics.
Which public training routes exist in Belgium?
In Flanders: VDAB
VDAB-recognised vocational trainings are free if you have no job, and in some situations if you do, for instance during your notice period. More than 200 online courses are free for everyone, as VDAB explains. The shortage list is used, among other things, to recognise trainings and grant exemptions to jobseekers. With an IBO, a company trains you on the job for 1 to 6 months, and if you complete it successfully, the employer must offer you an employment contract. If you are employed in the private sector, Flemish training leave lets you follow recognised training within a yearly number of hours.
In Wallonia: Le Forem and paid educational leave
Le Forem runs trainings for jobseekers and publishes the shortage list. If you work in the private sector, the congé-éducation payé lets you follow a recognised training while keeping your salary, within a ceiling of hours. Trainings leading to a shortage occupation qualify, as long as they last at least 32 hours. Distance learning and e-learning do not qualify in Wallonia for now.
In Brussels: Digitalcity.brussels
Digitalcity.brussels is the training and employment hub for digital jobs, run by Actiris, Bruxelles Formation, VDAB and the sector's social partners, with tracks for jobseekers and for employees. Bruxelles Formation and VDAB Brussel run the French and Dutch-language training offer. Paid educational leave also exists in Brussels, managed by Brussels Economy and Employment.
Training leave is regional, so the rules depend on where your employer is based. Check eligibility before you enrol, not after.
The bottom line
- The IT shortage is real but selective: it is for people who can be productive quickly, not for juniors without proof.
- Aim first at roles where your past counts: support, testing, analysis, data, or IT in your own sector.
- Show projects, not only certificates, and use your languages and domain knowledge.
- Plan in months and use the public routes: VDAB, Le Forem, Digitalcity.brussels and paid training leave.
- Check training leave rules with your region before you enrol.
Doubting whether you belong in a technical team is common at this stage, and our piece on overcoming imposter syndrome deals with it. When you are ready, look at the IT and engineering roles currently open.
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