52.5% of finance sector employees want to change jobs

Dissatisfaction with pay, unpaid overtime, fear of the workplace: according to a survey by OGBL, more than half of employees in Luxembourg's financial sector think about changing their job on a regular basis. The trade union says the sector must work on becoming more attractive.

Sylvie Reuter, central finance secretary for the OGBL, says the pandemic has completely changed the way the finance sector works.

"In the past, [employees] would be given a task, they would complete it and that was that. Nowadays, they complete a task, and an hour later they'll receive a Whatsapp or Webex telling them the task is no longer correct or up to date. This is naturally a burden to employees in the sector."

In order to obtain concrete data for this perceived phenomenon, the union organised a survey made up of around 450 OGBL members and non-members employed in banks, insurance companies, and other businesses within the sector. 52.5% of participants said they frequently considered changing jobs.

© Fanny Kinsch

"We asked people, what changes would you like to see? It became very clear that income and consideration were in first place, followed by work-life balance, job security, and a reduction in working hours."

80% of participants said they would like to work from home for often. The majority said they completed as much work at home as they did in the office, if not more. At this point, the OGBL said solutions needed to be found, while employees should also have a right to make use of continuous training.

Reuter added: "In a world that is becoming more numerical, with artificial intelligence on the rise, you have to invest in people. You can't just say that we need to attract new talent; you have to invest in existing staff, and view them as existing resources which need investment."

Employers agree that the financial sector needs to become more attractive. Reuter continued: "We are on the same page here, employers need to change the narrative, and some are doing campaigns to help increase interest in the finance sector for young people in Luxembourg, and beyond that, the Greater Region. However, we are of the opinion that it can't just stay with the narrative, changes need to be more widespread."

At the end of 2022, according to Statec , 53,111 people worked in the financial sector, with 11.23% of all Luxembourg workers employed in finance.