Big talent pool

Luxembourg had the highest share of people in highly skilled employment, with 6 in 10 workers holding a job that requires tertiary education skills, according to the World Economic Forum’s 2015 Human Capital Study.

International workforce

This highly skilled pool is credited largely to an international workforce. Indeed, foreign residents and cross-border workers make up 70% of the private sector workforce of Luxembourg, according to Statec figures.

Growing employment

Employment grew 75% from 2000 to April 2020 when there were 465,849 people registered as working in the grand duchy, according to Statec.

Employment by sector

The financial services sector may be well known in Luxembourg, but it is not the biggest employer. That accolade goes to transport, wholesale, accommodation and food services (101,833 at the end of 2019), according to Statec figures. Administrative and other public services take a close second with 91,847 jobs, followed by specialised activities and support services with 71,752 jobs.

Not a lot of people know that

In a bid to diversify the economy, Luxembourg has dipped a toe in a number of sectors, among them space. It launched the Luxembourg Space Agency in 2018 and is trying to build an ecosystem, legal framework and financial instruments that will give it a head start in the extraction of space resources.

This article was originally published in the 2020-2021 Delano Expat Guide