Photo shows Belgium and Luxembourg Google chief Thierry Geerts speaking at the Internet Days conference in Luxembourg on 14 November 2017 Nader Ghavami

Photo shows Belgium and Luxembourg Google chief Thierry Geerts speaking at the Internet Days conference in Luxembourg on 14 November 2017 Nader Ghavami

Boston Consulting Group’s “Digitizing Europe” report published in May 2016, identified Luxembourg as one of nine “European digital frontrunners”, in that it stands to gain more than other countries from the digisation of jobs because of the fact it is driven by economic activities related to the internet and information and communication technology.

The positive net effect on employment would only be felt on the condition the country successfully implements a digital single market and fosters emerging new industries which drive digitization, such as big data analytics, the internet of things, advanced robotics and virtual/augmented reality.

“Many of these jobs will likely emerge in small and innovative businesses, but as long as more traditional companies keep up in their digitisation efforts they will likely see growth as well,” the report read. The authors highlighted that much of this success hinged on the government’s efforts.

Luxembourg Internet Days

The report’s job creation forecasts were cited by Belgium and Luxembourg Google chief Thierry Geerts at the Internet Days conference in Luxembourg on 14 November, where they were met with surprise. “We are not aware of these numbers nor do we have any other studies that have sought to quantify the number of jobs that the digital economy would create,” Lu-Cix director Claude Demuth told our sister publication, Paperjam, adding: “But the figure of 80,000 jobs seems exaggerated for a country like Luxembourg.”

Manager of Luxinnovation’s ICT cluster Jean-Paul Hengen said that today the ICT sector employs 18,000 people in Luxembourg “but the demand for IT specialists exists in all sectors. 80,000 new jobs by 2020, this seems a bit much to me.”

Deloitte Luxembourg digital leader Pascal Martino, however, said the numbers sounded realistic. “It should not be an estimate but an objective. If Luxembourg has decided to become a pioneer in the digital economy and has the means to attract the big players in this field, then the creation of these 80,000 jobs will be a logical consequence,” he said