Adecco Group, Ecolog Renew Partnership for 2nd Phase of Large-Scale COVID-19 Testing

The Adecco Group has renewed its partnership with Ecolog for the second phase of large-scale COVID-19 testing in Luxembourg.

Already a partner of the first testing phase, The Adecco Group Luxembourg has been mandated again by Ecolog for the entire recruitment part of the second phase of large-scale testing (LST) which began on 16 September 2020 and will continue until March 2021.

The Luxembourg state has mandated Laboratoires Réunis for this second mission, coordinated by the Ministry of Health and of which Ecolog is one of the subcontractors. The Adecco Group Luxembourg is the exclusive partner of Ecolog and has facilitated the recruitment of 190 people in a short period to work over 28 weeks from September 2020.

The Adecco Group has taken charge of the human resources (HR) part for the entire duration of this second phase of testing and manages the selection and recruitment of candidates for the screening stations, as well as onboarding, training and all the coordination and administration elements.

Julie Noirhomme, Managing Director of Spring Professional, commented: "For the implementation of this second phase, our responsiveness and capacity for internal reorganisation were decisive in order to take into account the needs and evolution of the project. We are continuing to step up our recruitments, especially for nurses who are few in number and must be recruited [from] abroad". 

In view of the scale of the project and the responsiveness and flexibility required to be able to ensure continuity over time, The Adecco Group has set up a specific team to manage the various aspects of the project. This team is composed of one managing director and one project manager to ensure the strategy and coordination of the project with the various stakeholders, one accounting officer to manage the accounting part, two payroll officers to manage contracts, time sheets and salaries, five HR officers responsible for recruiting different profiles, management of absences and illnesses.

The four types of candidates recruited have very specific and distinct profiles. For instance, administrative officers are in charge of welcoming patients, checking ID and directing patients, whilst nurses are tasked with taking samples from the population to be tested, in compliance with all safety and hygiene standards. Logistics agents are responsible for preparing material and equipment, ID checks and labelling and site managers are tasked with supervising the teams and are responsible for administrative management and the management of material stocks.

While the first phase aimed to test the largest number of people, the second phase of LST targets the most exposed populations with the aim of breaking the chains of infection and effectively tracing contacts of infected people. The entire testing system is thus based on permanent use of the capacity of 53,000 weekly tests for 30 weeks, while retaining a certain flexibility with a view to distributing them around four axes according to developments linked to the evolution of the virus. These axes are: frequent tests for the most vulnerable and / or exposed populations (healthcare workers, secondary school students, police, nursery staff, workers in the hospitality sector, etc.); testing of incoming travellers at the country's entry points (e.g. Luxembourg Airport); tests on samples of the population; and cluster and emergency testing to be activated according to current needs.