Paperjam.lu

Carlo Thelen, general manager of the Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce, says that there remains a considerable lag between available skills and the competencies required by businesses in Luxembourg.Photo: Steve Eastwood/archives 

“Even if the fall in unemployment is undeniable,” Thelen said, “this cannot hide a certain mismatch between supply and demand for employment. There is a lag in this country between available skills and competencies and the needs of business. Digitisation will force a growing number of people to retrain to ensure their employability. New professions will appear, others will be the subject of significant changes and some will be doomed to disappear.”

“Adaptation to new trends will be through continuing education,” he continued. “The future growth of businesses will depend on the availability of a qualified workforce. We must, therefore, know the needs of our companies and work towards a system of education and continuous training that rigorously takes these requirements into account.”

Based on the results of two recent studies commissioned by the Chamber of Commerce and the Economy Ministry, “Third Industrial Revolution in Luxembourg” and “Work 4.0 - Opportunities and Challenges for Luxembourg”, a methodology for analysing the training needs of the different sectors of the economy has been developed. The results of this analysis are then fed to the House of Training, the training body of the Chamber of Commerce, and ISEC, (higher institute of economics) which then develops training courses.  

The Fit4Entrepreneurship training programme was the flagship project of the Chamber of Commerce/ADEM partnership. Launched in 2015, it aims to encourage jobseekers to consider starting a business. Three new tailor-made training programmes aim to increase the general employability of candidates by seeking to plug the skills gap:  

  • Fit4JobStart: is for young jobseekers between the ages of 18 and 30. It offers them the opportunity to define a relevant professional project, in line with their profile and aspirations;
  • Fit4DigitalFuture: aims to increase the employability of young people with an interest and affinity for IT by offering them training in the most sought-after digital skills in the labour market, a preparation for the requirements of digital transformation and the initiation to certain computer tools and methodologies necessary for the success of a project in a company; and
  • Skill you up: allows experienced profiles to retrain to start again in a new activity.