The financial industry in Luxembourg currently employs just over 63,000 people, but increasing job complexity and new challenges such as sustainable finance or the digitisation of finance require new profiles. There are currently not enough candidates and international financial centres across the globe are facing the same problem. At Adem, the number of open positions is at a record high. “Of these, one third are in the financial sector,” estimates Laurent Peusch, Head of Employers Services at Adem.
That finance is the first “client” of the public employment agency is in itself not surprising in a country where the sector accounts for a quarter of GDP. What is more surprising is the difficulty for employers to attract the right candidates. This is not a new phenomenon at Adem and the organisation has adapted to provide better responses to employers’ requests.
Our advisors have an average of twenty years' experience in the financial sector. They are experienced people who speak the same language as employers and can maintain a level of trust with them.
A new website (work-in-Luxembourg.lu) was recently launched. It offers numerous advertisements from Luxembourg employers and allows candidates to insert their profile on the platform. “It is really a site dedicated to attracting talent,” explains Peusch. “At its core its a site for promoting employment in Luxembourg.” In addition to the numerous offers, it organises online “job fairs”, publishes testimonials from talent who have chosen Luxembourg and provides practical information on immigrating to the country. In fact, it won the best communication product within the European network EURES award from the European Labour Authority, of which Adem is a member.
In order to attract talent, employers in the financial sector have to cast their lines further and further afield. Publishing a job offer on the national market is obviously still of interest, but by being part of the EURES network, which brings together the employment players of the 27 countries of the EU as well as the European Economic Area (Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway), Adem can offer employers a gateway to the international market. “It is a free service that opens the doors of the Luxembourg job market to candidates from our partner countries as well as to the rest of the world,” insists Peusch.
Adem also puts boots on the ground, as it were, and meets potential candidates abroad. This year, it plans to attend the Paris pour l’emploi trade fair, which takes place in October in the French capital, for the second time. It plans to have a stand there and to involve 7 or 8 employers from the country. “This fair attracts between 40,000 and 50,000 people, many of whom want to change jobs. Candidates are welcome to join us,” says Peusch. “If employers follow, Adem can organise other events of this kind.”
It is a free service that opens the doors of the Luxembourg job market to candidates from our partner countries, as well as to the rest of the world.
To match employers’ offers with potential candidates as well as possible, Adem has a team of advisors in Luxembourg dedicated to finance jobs. They can pre-select candidates based on skills and offer training to enable applicants to reach the required level. “Our advisors have an average of twenty years’ experience in the financial sector,” notes Peusch. “They are experienced people who speak the same language as employers and can maintain a level of trust with them.
As employers’ requirements are often very specific in the financial sector, they are frequently called upon to “defend” the files of candidates who do not exactly match the profile but who could quickly reach the level required. “Training remains a guarantee of finding or regaining employment,” insists Peusch. “There are hundreds of offers in Luxembourg and Adem also organises some of them.” Sometimes even tailor-made. For example, at the request of an employer in the financial sector the agency organised training for a dozen KYC analyst candidates, who then joined the company.
“We can organise many types of training,” highlight Peusch. “However, to get a better idea of the market’s needs, we need employers to send us all their offers.” This is a legal obligation which is not always respected, which also prevents Adem from having proper oversight on which jobs are currently in high demand. This is also crucial for promoting the labour market abroad.