ADEM, the National Employment Agency, declared a 17,7% rise in qualified people looking for work in 2025.
Julien is 24 years old and has been looking for a job for a month: “I completed my bachelor’s degree in Arlon, as an Executive Assistant, and even so it’s not that easy. That’s a bit of a shame, because you always think you’ll find a job right away, especially when you speak all the languages.”
Lionel Toumpsin, architect and managing director at an architectural firm, underlines that languages also play a big role for them. He adds that the construction sector as a whole has had a difficult time in finding suitable people: “The best people are in extremely high demand and they find a position right away. But the fact that we are here today allows us to broaden our search.”
The construction sector wants to hire, but suitable candidates seem to be few, while qualified workers are having difficulties in other sectors due to slowing growth, explains Gaby Wagner, Deputy Director of ADEM.
Training also plays a major role in today’s job market. Companies are adapting their recruitment criteria in order to fill vacancies. Anne Caumont, recruitment officer at a Big Four firm explains that they’re mainly looking for people who are freshly graduated. “You can find those quite easily,” she says. Professional experience is therefore not expected. “We are also flexible when it comes to degrees: we do ask for a university diploma, but not necessarily in a specific field.”
This works in favor of young job-seekers, as a woman from Belgium told us: “I was offered a work-study program, meaning that I can work and complete a BTS at the same time. That’s particularly interesting for me, because although I have diplomas, I come from Belgium, and the BTS doesn’t exist there.”
According to the latest figures, just over 20,000 people are currently looking for a job. That represents an increase of 8% compared to the same month of the previous year.
