According to a study entitled ‘The Economic Opportunity of AI in Luxembourg’, artificial intelligence (AI) could replace 6% of jobs in Luxembourg, slightly below the EU average of 7%. However,AI could also strengthen 72% of existing jobs, notably in the finance, accounting, law and IT sectors, while 22% of jobs would not be affected.
Faced with these prospects, the Minister of Labour, Georges Mischo, stressed the need for preventive measures to help workers whose positions are at risk, mainly in administrative functions. These measures aim to strengthen their skills and make them complementary to AI.
In this context, the Luxembourg Government introduced the draft ‘skills-plang’ law, aimed at facilitating the upskilling and reskilling of employees facing AI-related developments. This programme for the forward management of employment and skills focuses primarily on small and medium-sized enterprises. It has three main objectives:
- maintaining employee employment through upskilling and internal reskilling pathways;
- increase the general employability of trained employees and combat unemployment;
- improve the competitiveness and resilience of enterprises by anticipating the skills needs of the market.
This project is a continuation of the Luxembourg Digital Skills Bridge, a pilot project carried out in 2018 and 2019 by the Ministry of Labour and Adem, aimed at anticipating the repercussions of technological developments and supporting companies and their employees in this transition.
The skills-plang initiative reflects the willingness of the Luxembourg government to anticipate the challenges posed by AI in the labour market and to put in place concrete measures to support workers and businesses in this transformation.