Acerta: ‘three times more employees opt for mobility budget’

The mobility budget has become more popular over the last few years. Designed as an alternative to a company car, it can be spent on public transport, shared cars, bicycles, or possibly a small, environmentally friendly company car.

Although only a minority of employers (3.2%) offer it, one in 20 employees exchanged their company car for the federal mobility budget last year. Over the past three years, the measure has convinced more than twice as many companies to offer their staff an alternative to the company car. Acerta and SD Worx – both HR service providers – recognize the trend.

Most popular in Brussels

In the Belgian capital, 13.5% of employees opted for a mobility budget, compared to 3.7% in Flanders and 2.5% in Wallonia. Today, three times more employees opt for a mobility budget than five years ago. The larger the organization, the greater the chance of a mobility budget.

Sectors where employers set a good example are ICT (9%), advertising and market research (7%), activities of head office employees (6%), and architects and engineers (4%).

Employers in and around the capital most often offer a mobility budget. In Brussels, 5.2% of employers work with the mobility budget, compared to 1.6% in Flanders and 1.2% in Wallonia. This is due to the capital’s accessibility; the center is easier to reach by train than by car.

Still marginal phenomenon

If we look at the provinces, the mobility budget is most popular in Flemish (3.8%) and Walloon (3.5%) Brabant and least popular in Limburg (1%) and West Flanders (0.9%).

Starters, in particular, opt for a mobility budget instead of a salary car more often than the average. Still, people in their forties and fifties have also exchanged their salary car for a mobility budget more often in the past year. This shows the potential of the mobility budget, although the phenomenon remains marginal.

Mobility budget ‘for everyone’?

The mobility budget will be in use for six years on March 1st. The average amount awarded is 7,294.96 euros. Reimbursement of housing costs, in particular, remains popular.

SD Worx organized a survey based on data from over 37,000 employers and 1.1 million employees. Acerta analyzed the data of more than 350,000 employees and over 28,000 employers from the private sector, supplemented with data from Mbrella, a digital HR platform for flexible remuneration via mobility.

The new federal government announced that it wants to reform the mobility budget. Employees entitled to a company car should be systematically offered the option to opt for a mobility budget. In addition, there should also be a mobility budget “for everyone”…