A few months later, in September, it was a little -known French firm, Generix associated with Wavenet and Real Dolmen, who won a juicy contract at 40,084,645.99 euros. It’s not over. The largest market takes place in March 2023: various IT companies in Liège (NRB, Uptime ICT and NSI) win a mission at 47.9 million euros. On its own, this contract is more than twice the consultancy costs of one year of the twenty-three other Walloon entities surveyed by Free. Just that.
Overall, around 70 % of the budgets devoted by OIPs Walloons to consultancy missions are trusted by the Office of Vocational Training and Employment. Note, however, that if the reserve to spend these markets reaches 265 million euros well, Forem has to date “consumed only about 169 million euros (ie 64 % of the reserved amounts, editor’s note)“specifies Thierry Ney, spokesperson.
In six years, the Walloon administration has spent 377 million euros in consultancy markets
A shortage of computer scientists
At Forem, IT markets engulf most budgets (around 250 million out of the 265). IT supports, maintenance, development of digital tools, everything goes there. The organization – second Walloon public employer behind the SPW – can however count in its ranks on an army of computer scientists. According to the strategic objectives set by Forem itself, the proportion of internal resources in this area should even be 70 %.
Contacted, the body justifies: “Recruitment difficulties and computer market tensions mean that we currently have only 50 % interns. For two years, we have been carrying out regular recruitment waves in order to tend towards our objective of internalization. Currently, the IT department welcomes external consultants, 60 % of which are assigned to ‘change’ activities (Editor’s note: implementation of new systems, applications, etc.) and 40 % at ‘run’ activities (Editor’s note: maintenance of what exists)“. Faced with the important needs for digitalization and protection against cyber attacks, Forem explains that they have no choice but to call on external providers.
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Information also taken, it seems that it is above all the system of remuneration linked to diplomas which slows down the recruitment of computer scientists. Indeed, according to a source in the SPW, graduates are often more competent than academics to carry out the necessary missions in this type of organization. However, IT graduates are far less well paid in administration than in the private sector where their coding competence is just as sought after.
Since the beginning of 2025, the organization has announced that it has changed its way of working at its IT public procurement. “We are making a change that will promote the use of external resources via a ‘lump sum mode, leaving suppliers the responsibility for managing their teams and empowering them on the achievement of results“Indicates Thierry Ney.
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