Minister of Labour, Employment and the Social and Solidarity Economy, Nicolas Schmit, and chairman of the Union of Luxembourg Enterprises (UEL), Michel Wurth, today presented the new label awarded to companies partnering with the Agence pour le développement de l'emploi (ADEM) through an employment agreement.
These bilateral agreements between ADEM and the signatory companies are a key part of the agreement signed between the government and the UEL in January as a means of strengthening business competitiveness and contributing to reducing unemployment and stimulating economic growth.
The first 22 companies today received the label 'Entreprise, partenaire pour l'emploi' (Enterprise, Partner for Employment'), coming from different sectors with a focus on large scale retail. Discussions with other companies are ongoing, with ADEM set to regularly present an inventory of the labels awarded.
"In an atypical market, where unemployment remains high whilst job creation is significant, we must find innovative solutions to facilitate access to employment for job seekers," commented Minister Nicolas Schmit. "By partnering with ADEM, the labelled companies are showing their social responsibility on the national labour market".
Particular attention is paid to the access or return to employment of the most vulnerable in the labour market, such as the young and older job seekers and the long-term unemployed.
"The UEL and its members wanted a strong action in the fight against unemployment," explained Michel Wurth. "The Enterprises, Partners for Employment programme is the materialisation of this commitment through the involvement of ADEM on our side. I am counting on all companies to engage in this initiative and contribute to showing by example that unemployment is not an inevitable scourge".
The partnership agreements signed between ADEM and these companies requires commitments from both parties. Nicolas Henckes, Secretary-General of the UEL, stated that labelled companies must actively participate in measures to promote employment through programmes such as 'Jobelo' which targets unskilled youth. Companies also committed to holding interviews with ADEM candidates and providing regular feedback. The results regarding the recruitment of job seekers will be annually assessed during a meeting between the company's management and ADEM.
"ADEM commits, for its part, amongst others, to make a preliminary selection of quality candidates for each vacancy declared and conduct regular monitoring of offers," pledged Isabelle Schlesser, Director of ADEM.
For frequently-sought profiles such as checkout staff, ADEM will be able to rapidly create a 'pool' of candidates. By the end of the year, companies will also have access to JobBoard, an interactive platform on ADEM's website, which will allow them to view profiles of jobseekers registered with ADEM.
Photo by UEL
