A study by Luxembourg’s Institute of Socio-Economic Research (Liser) relied on a machine learning algorithm to determine the most important factors for people’s likelihood of becoming a cross-border worker. The research focused on data from people living in the Belgian province of Luxembourg and neighbouring municipalities in the province of Liège.

The strongest determining factor for becoming a cross-border worker in Luxembourg is having previous experience and having been employed elsewhere in the last five years. Another member of a household working beyond the border increases the chance of a person transitioning to that way of working, indicated the report. There was no correlation found, however, between the presence of children in the household and becoming a cross-border worker.

People at the age of 24 are the most likely to become a cross-border worker with the probability of working across the frontier decreasing considerably from that point on before picking up slightly among those 37 of age or older.

People who are not currently employed are also a lot more likely to start a job across Luxembourg’s border, likely due to a correlation between high unemployment rates and outgoing commuting by jobseekers.

Medium-skilled workers have the lowest chance of becoming cross-border workers while those with a master’s degree or only a primary school diploma posting higher probability, concluded the study. Those with a bachelor degree are almost as likely as those with primary school education to begin working across the border while people with a master’s degree have the highest likelihood of doing so.

Commuting time to Luxembourg City, by car or with public transport, was another factor for cross-border workers. Those who need only 21 minutes to get to work were the most likely to work across the border, while that trend diminishes sharply especially when commuting time exceeds 40 minutes.