Data from 2002 to 2017 published by Eurostat showed that just under 4% of jobs in Luxembourg were temporary posts in 2002, a proportion which rose to 8.4% and 8.5% in 2016 and 2017 respectively. This stabilisation comes in spite of the high cost of labour in Luxembourg, a country with the highest minimum wage in the EU. If across the EU, the proportion of people employed in temporary jobs was higher than in Luxembourg, the increase was proportionately less severe from 11% to almost 13.4% over the same period.

The highest proportion of temporary employees was found in Poland and Spain (both 26%) and lowest in Romania (1%).

Part-time working prospects appear to have improved in Luxembourg, according to the data, showing in 2002 just 11% of jobs were part-time. By 2017, they accounted for almost 20% of jobs in Luxembourg, slightly above the EU average (15%-19%). The highest proportion of part-time workers was recorded in the Netherlands (47%) and the lowest in Bulgaria (2%).

Finding part-time work is considered by some as a means for better work-life balance. A 2018 study (pdf) of the part-time workforce by workplace gender complementarity champions Equilibre Luxembourg found that men were among the biggest beneficiaries, as were people working in science, engineering and ICT, health professionals, legal, social and cultural professionals and teaching. Part-time work at manager level showed the slowest growth levels since 2007.

The report concluded that Luxembourg was “moving faster than the EU28 average when it comes to facilitating part-time working for men, which is an important part for creating parity at the workplace between men and women.” A future study by the organisation would focus on the breakdown by sector for part-time employment in Luxembourg.