The labour market in Luxembourg, shaped by its distinctive feature of 45% cross-border workers, mainly from France, Belgium, and Germany, poses challenges for skills anticipation. The country relies on limited studies focusing on sectoral skill needs. Skills anticipation activities in Luxembourg aim to provide insights into the medium and long-term skills requirements. Aligned with the concertation social approach, involving stakeholders like employers, trade unions, and the State, these activities foster dialogue to inform education and training.
The Ministry of Education and professional chambers use skills anticipation exercises to develop occupational standards and curricula. While limited, the results are shared with stakeholders, although there is no structured process to integrate these findings into policymaking.
The 2019 National Reform Programme underscores the pivotal role of education and professional training in achieving national employment goals. To tackle this, the government focuses on two main areas: (a) supporting job seekers through training initiatives, and (b) targeting vulnerable groups. In the wake of the economic crisis, there has been a surge in skills mismatches, hindering economic recovery. This is particularly evident in the significant rise in long-term unemployment rates, prompting concerns about the skill readiness of this demographic to re-enter the workforce.
Simultaneously, there’s a growing recognition that many employees, especially recent graduates, are underutilizing their skills, often settling for jobs below their qualifications. To address these challenges, policymakers advocate for investments in several areas: bolstering both initial and adult learning, implementing active labour market policies to bridge skills gaps and facilitate smoother transitions into employment, and optimizing vocational education and training (VET) and employment strategies to align job seekers’ training with available opportunities. Crucially, data from skills anticipation plays a vital role in shaping policies related to general education, adult learning, and skill matching.
Cedefop. (2023). Skills anticipation in Luxembourg. Skills intelligence: data insights. URL