Adem on Monday presented its annual report after posting last month’s unemployment figures, with a low rate of 4.6% and more than 13,200 jobs available.
These numbers come after a bumper year 2021. The number of people working in Luxembourg grew 3.8% last year compared to the year before, Adem said, reaching 489,703 at the end of 2021.
The number of jobseekers was down 17.6%, at 16,403, with the number of people living off full unemployment benefits also down 20.2% to reach 8,269. On the other hand, the number of job vacancies was up 62.9% compared to 2020, which was marked by the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic and successive full or partial lockdowns.
“The effects of the health crisis on the job market appear well and truly behind us,” Adem said in its annual report, speaking of a “spectacular rebound” in vacancies.
Not everyone is benefitting equally, though. Jobseekers below the age of 30 saw employment pick up at a much quicker pace than their older peers. While young people were more affected by unemployment during the pandemic--because of short-term contracts ending and lack of alternative options--it is now the older generations who are struggling to find jobs.
“The figures show persistent difficulties, such as the shortage of profiles sought in certain sectors of activity or the long-term unemployment which particularly affects the over 50s,” Adem said.
Skills
The jobs agency in 2021 launched a new strategy aimed at helping to facilitate the job search for people looking for a new position but also improving its training offer to get people back into a changing workplace.
For example, 500 people took part in the FutureSkills programme, which teaches digital and project management skills.
The programme forms part of the FutureSkills initiative, which has seen the employment agency analyse thousands of job postings to get a better idea of the kinds of skills companies are looking for and adapt its training offer accordingly.
In total, nearly 5,000 jobseekers enrolled in a training opportunity offered by Adem last year.
With nearly half of Luxembourg’s workforce living outside the country, and nearly half of resident employees being non-nationals, Adem is now trying to widen its scope. The platform work-in-luxembourg.lu targets international candidates in the sectors most lacking talent in the grand duchy.