The year 2016 will bring with it plenty of opportunities within the Luxembourg employment market, according to a report released Tuesday by specialist recruitment consultants Hays.
The second edition of the remuneration study showed that 51% of candidates in Luxembourg's are reportedly considering changing jobs, with 86% of companies expressing their willingness to hire. According to Hays, this reflects the country's return to the level of optimism and confidence felt before 2008 and the potential for a dynamic labour market in 2016.
Increase in activity in 50% of cases and replacements following start-ups in 36% could see 2016 inciting the vast majority of companies, both SMEs and corporations, to recruit new candidates, demonstrating a sharp increase from 2015 when 76% took on new employees. The perspective of the candidates also shows shifting outlooks, as although only 32% changed jobs in 2015, 51% reported they are considering switching jobs in 2016. Interest in a new position, career outlook and more attractive pay were cited as primary reasons for this, at 73%, 62% and 58%, respectively.
The Luxembourg labour market is not just growing, but changing, with hires from Generation Y on an upward trajectory. 47% of companies hired from this demographic in the last year, which is expected to account for half of the Grand Duchy's working population by 2020. These young employees were found to value their quality of life (48%) over professional development (35%) or work environment (17%), and are perceived by employers to be individualistic (48%) and ambitious (22%).
Recruiting through social networks is reportedly now essential, and may account for the success of initiatives such as Kliber in Luxembourg - a country still lagging behing European neighbours, perhaps due to companies' distrust for advertising within such media and preference for more traditional methods such as specialist press (35%) and recruitment firms (24%). By contrast, candidates seized upon these social media opportunites with 54% drawing on professional networks such as LinkedIn, Viadeo and Facebook in their job search, and 93% considering them for the future. However, only 14% of candidates signed a contract through these tools in 2015.
The phenomenon of an improving residential and professional real estate market in Luxembourg has allowed for the creation of new positions, which target skills such as level of education, specialised diplome, versatility, command of languages (English, German and French) and wage requested.
Opportunities also abounded in Industry and Engineering, which ended 2015 with positive figures and set 2016 out as the first year of real recovery. Despite the volatility of the period, wage increases were recorded in the last year and, looking forward, the industry will be looking for applicants with mastery of a foreign language in addition to English and French and a solid general, economic and technical affinity.
The IT industry of the country is also an eager one for new talent, experiencing as it is the dual difficulties of urgent needs and talent shortage. Desirable candidates would boast strong technical expertise on digital technologies such as web and mobile and an acute understanding of financial, commercial or industrial issues. Shifting trends would necessitate applicants being able to perform regular technological monitoring in order to repond to constant technical developments.
Photo by Hays
