Cross-Border Employment Initiatives Announced

On Thursday 8 and Friday 9 September 2022, the directors of the Luxembourg's unemployment agency (ADEM), the Rhineland-Palatinate-Saar Regional Directorate of the German Federal Employment Agency, German employment agencies, Pôle emploi Grand Est, the Walloon employment and training service (Le Forem) and the employment service of the German-speaking Community of Belgium, met in Überherrn, Germany as part of an exchange on the cross-border employment and signed a joint statement.

The purpose of these cross-border meetings is to discuss current topics concerning the job market in the Greater Region and close collaboration between players in the cross-border labour market. The theme this year was “Transformation of the world of work within the Greater Region”.

Digitilisation, globalisation, the decarbonisation of the economy and agile working methods require work on the skills of workers. The pandemic has accelerated these developments. Thus, in addition to professional expertise, adaptability and innovative working methods are necessary to integrate into the labour market. In addition, the need for labour, increased by demographic aging, is clearly felt in all territories.

In this context, it is more essential than ever that the public employment services of the Greater Region work together to maintain and develop the workforce needed by businesses. All the participants are aware of what is at stake and have agreed on the priority areas of their cooperation within the framework of the EURES Greater-Region partnership. These axes were specified in a joint declaration signed at the end of the meeting. The objective is to obtain more and more common training in order to facilitate access to employment in all the countries concerned and, moreover, to support employees in adapting their qualifications.

Isabelle Schlesser, Director of ADEM, said: “The job market is changing at an unprecedented pace. Technological advances, such as the digitalisation of work, automation and artificial intelligence are radically transforming existing professions. The skills gap, this imbalance between the skills available and the needs of employers, is already clearly visible in Luxembourg, with a peak in the number of unfilled job offers. To support a dynamic and resilient job market, the Employment Development Agency (ADEM) relies on cross-border collaboration and demonstrates its desire to anticipate these transformations by improving the employability of job seekers, with targeted actions in terms of training and individualisation of the services provided.”