Ghentruns on a handful of strong industries. If you’re job-hunting or weighing a move, here’s where the opportunities (and the big-name employers) are.
Top industries & employers
Ghent University & the university hospital
Universiteit Gent, UZ Gent, HOGENT, Arteveldehogeschool
UGent is one of the two largest universities in Flanders and, with the colleges alongside it, makes Ghent the country's most student-dense big city — the population swells and shrinks with the academic calendar in a way Antwerp's does not.
Biotech & life sciences
argenx, VIB, Sanofi (the former Ablynx), Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant
argenx grew out of the Ghent research cluster into one of Belgium's most valuable listed companies, and VIB — the Flemish life-sciences institute — has its largest concentration of research groups on the Zwijnaarde technology campus south of the city.
Port, steel & heavy industry
North Sea Port, ArcelorMittal Belgium, Stora Enso, Christeyns
The Ghent docks merged with Terneuzen and Vlissingen in 2018 to form North Sea Port, a genuinely cross-border Belgian–Dutch authority — one of very few in Europe — and the steelworks on the Ghent–Terneuzen canal is among the largest single industrial sites in Belgium.
Automotive & advanced manufacturing
Volvo Car Gent, Volvo Group, Daikin Europe, Bekaert
Volvo has built cars in Ghent since 1965 and the plant is one of the group's main European assembly sites; the surrounding supplier network is a large part of why East Flanders' industrial employment held up better than Wallonia's.
Clean tech, energy & the circular economy
Port cluster projects, Ghent University spin-offs, Capture, Bio Base Europe
The canal zone is one of the designated Flemish sites for hydrogen and carbon-capture projects, precisely because heavy industry, deep water and a research university sit within fifteen kilometres of each other.
Culture, festivals & hospitality
Gentse Feesten, Film Fest Gent, Viernulvier, Historische Huizen Gent
The Gentse Feesten fills the whole medieval core for ten days every July and is one of Europe's largest city festivals; the year-round venue economy behind it employs a great many people in a city of this size.
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