(Back, L-R) Isabelle Schlesser, director of ADEM; Georges Engel, Minister of Labour, Employment and the Social and Solidarity Economy; Inès Baer, Future Skills Initiative Manager, ADEM;

On Thursday 20 January 2022, the Luxembourg Minister of Labour, Employment and the Social and Solidarity Economy, Georges Engel, and the Director of Luxembourg's unemployment agency (ADEM), Isabelle Schlesser, presented seven studies on trades and skills in demand in the Luxembourg labour market.

The studies were carried out by ADEM on the basis of job offers declared by companies. These studies are part of the Future Skills Initiative and the Employment Partnership between between ADEM and the Union des Entreprises Luxembourgeoises (UEL), Luxembourg's union for private-sector businesses. Labour market trends, jobs of the future and required skills were analysed for seven distinct sectors: construction, transport and logistics, crafts, finance, hospitality (Horeca), trade and industry. The studies were carried out in collaboration with the professional federations and chambers concerned (Chamber of Commerce,Chamber of Skilled Trades and Crafts, ABBL, ACA, Federation of Craftsmen, Horesca, FEDIL, CLC and Cluster for Logistics).

Minister Engel said: "The job market is undergoing a transformation and is constantly evolving, particularly with the emergence of technological progress, issues related to the environment or even societal changes". This results in new professions, new trends and above all challenges for jobseekers who must develop their skills in order to meet the demands of the job market.

ADEM launched its Future Skills Initiative in October 2020, which aims in particular to develop the cross-functional and digital skills of jobseekers. The FutureSkills training programme, set up during the health crisis, has enabled nearly 500 jobseekers to follow three months of training in digital and behavioural skills and in project management. A practical “internship” (in the form of compensated temporary employment) has also been set up.

The second part of the Future Skills Initiative consisted of analysing the trades and skills in demand.

"The sectoral studies and analyses carried out on the basis of the offers declared to ADEM and the resulting job descriptions will allow us to target our training offers as well as likely match to the current and future needs of companies", said Director Schlesser. She highlighted the role of ADEM in making the job market more transparent and thus enabling job seekers to seize new opportunities that arise. The declaration of vacancies by companies to ADEM is an essential element in this context.

Inès Baer, ​​in charge of developing the seven studies, presented the main results. “Globally, a trend is emerging in all sectors, that of ever higher skill requirements in all areas. In particular the importance of transversal skills (behavioural, digital, management, languages, etc.). The skill that is most in demand in all sectors is knowing how to adapt to change. Concretely, being flexible to the changes and transformations that companies may undergo is an essential asset in the job market”.

The conclusions of these seven sector studies at a glance:

  • Growth professions are very diverse: some professions are highly skilled and others require fewer qualifications;
  • The growth of these businesses is explained by the growth of certain activities in our society, such as construction, Horeca, mobility or the investment fund industry, or even by certain specific trends, such as home delivery or financial regulation;
  • The trend of digitilisation is increasing the professions related to IT or project management, while automation will rather reduce demand in certain professions such as administrative work at the back office level or manual assembly in industry;
  • Emerging professions are directly linked to new trends (technological, environmental, societal), such as cloud architects, professions linked to the revaluation of raw materials, baristas in coffee shops;
  • The professions with the greatest shortage of talent are often highly skilled professions such as computer scientist and lawyer and professions from the craft sector such as butcher or electrician;
  • The trades where there is a surplus of candidates tend to be trades that require fewer qualifications, such as in the administrative, cleaning and sales fields. However, this does not mean that employers easily find candidates in these professions since specific skills, such as language skills, can also generate recruitment difficulties;
  • Strong growth in requirements for transversal skills: personal, digital, management skills and languages.

The completion of the seven sectoral studies represents the first step on the way to a better understanding of the job market. This analytical work should continue and be strengthened. In his conclusion, Minister Engel noted the importance of collaboration with the social partners on the subject of skills and continuing education.

The detailed studies are available online and can be viewed on the ADEM website: https://adem.lu/etudes-sectorles.