(L-R) Marc Lebrun, President of FEDIL Employment Services (FES); Georges Mischo, Luxembourg's Minister of Labour; Isabelle Schlesser, Director of ADEM; Credit: ADEM

On Tuesday 10 December 2024, Luxembourg's employment agency, ADEM, and FEDIL Employment Services (FES) signed a new collaboration agreement, strengthening their joint commitment to promote the integration of jobseekers into the Luxembourg employment market.

The agreement was signed in the presence of Luxembourg's Minister of Labour, Georges Mischo, Isabelle Schlesser, Director of ADEM, and Marc Lebrun, Chairman of the Board of Directors of FES.

As reported by ADEM, this agreement is part of a long tradition of partnership between ADEM and the temporary work sector, initiated in 1997. It aims to pool efforts to promote the employability of all jobseekers, by allowing them to acquire new experiences and skills, while meeting the flexibility needs of companies.

FES is the employers' association that brings together temporary employment companies established in Luxembourg. "As a responsible social partner, the temporary employment sector plays a central role in the placement of candidates, thanks to its ability to adapt quickly to market needs and its specialised training tools," emphasised Marc Lebrun.

A recent opinion survey on temporary work in Luxembourg for FES is reported to have revealed the importance of temporary work as a training environment, allowing workers to strengthen key skills and develop professionally. It also highlighted its essential role as a springboard to more stable jobs.

Through this agreement, the parties have undertaken to:

- facilitate the recruitment of jobseekers through structured and automated sharing of job offers between FES and ADEM;

- improve the employability of candidates by offering jobseekers registered with ADEM targeted training tailored to the needs of employers;

- promote temporary work as a springboard to sustainable employment.

"Temporary employment companies play a valuable role in the job market. By offering a large number of contracts in various sectors, sometimes with significant durations, they actively contribute to the acquisition of new skills and professional experience by jobseekers, thus promoting their sustainable integration into the job market," noted Isabelle Schlesser.

FES member companies have also undertaken to declare to ADEM the job offers that will be published, through an automatic transfer, on the JobBoard platform. This will allow ADEM to better collect data on the professional skills sought by employers and to refine the list of occupations in high demand.

They also agreed to offer jobseekers registered with ADEM, who wish to do so, to apply to certain companies (so-called user enterprises), after an assessment and selection process. To accelerate the integration of candidates into the job market, temporary employment companies that are members of FES will be able to suggest suitable training, according to profiles and needs.

For its part, ADEM is expected to intensify its efforts to promote temporary work to jobseekers as a springboard to a long-term professional occupation. In addition, ADEM is expected to regularly solicit FES member companies for recruitment workshops and will organise job days dedicated to the temporary employment sector, such as ADEM-FES.

According to the statement, the agreement pays special attention to jobseekers under 30, with little or no experience, particularly as part of the Youth Guarantee Programme. Temporary employment companies will be represented and valued in initiatives dedicated to this group.

The mutual commitments also provide for the establishment of workshops and specific mechanisms to enable the youngest candidates acquire the skills necessary for successful integration into the job market.

Minister Mischo welcomed these initiatives and thanked the programme partners: "The signing of this agreement reaffirms the determination of ADEM and FEDIL Employment Services to combine their efforts to meet the challenges of a constantly changing job market. This partnership highlights the complementarity between the public employment service and the temporary work sector, with the common objective of reducing unemployment and supporting companies in their search for talent."

A half-yearly review of the partnership will be established to assess the results and identify potential areas for improvement.