Given the ongoing digitalisation efforts in almost every aspect of daily life, it seems unsurprising that job offers in the IT sector have been on the rise in recent years. However, it has also become clear that due to a lack of qualified personnel in the country, many job calls remain unanswered.
Back in 2015, the National Employment Agency (ADEM) launched a seven-year study to assess the direction in which the job market was evolving and to improve transparency for jobseekers. According to ADEM director Isabelle Schlesser, figures from that report show clear growth for the IT sector, and that everywhere in Luxembourg: “We’ve seen job offers multiplied by 2.8 times between 2015 and 2022; that really is an enormous, enormous growth rate.”
Nevertheless, hiring standards in the IT sector have become increasingly high, the ADEM director underlined: “We currently have 1,400 jobseekers from the IT sector. That can be explained by Luxembourg companies being particularly demanding. Close to a third of offers require more than ten years of experience. We only have few candidates with a diploma, if significant experience is added to the requirements, then it becomes increasingly difficult to find suitable candidates.”
The ADEM has recently raised its catalogue of certified digital classes for candidates, with two main categories now on offer: basic skills, including smartphone and email usage, and specialised skills, such as programming languages.
Schlesser emphasised that advanced digital skills are useful for anyone, not just jobseekers, which is why she stressed the importance of ongoing training in conversation with RTL. People looking to deepen their knowledge can do so at the Digital Learning Hub, for instance.
As for the improvement of job market transparency, the ADEM on Tuesday presented its new ‘JobInsights’ tool, which has been designed to give jobseekers a better overview of hiring sectors and in-demand skills. The tool can be accessed via the ADEM website or at jobinsights.lu.
