Transferable Skills: Luxembourg’s Missed Opportunity
Luxembourg’s job market currently faces an unusual paradox: while unemployment edges up for highly qualified and experienced workers, especially those over 45, many employers continue to cite skill shortages and the persistent challenge of matching available talent to open roles. Yet, this challenging environment offers a unique opportunity for companies to rethink hiring strategies and embrace the untapped advantages of transferable skills, especially among seasoned professionals.
Shifting Towards Transferable Skills
Recent trends in Luxembourg confirm a shift from qualification-based to skill-based recruitment. Employers now prioritise adaptability, digital capability, communication, and creative problem-solving, skills that transcend sectors and roles, over rigid lists of degrees or sector-specific experience. Roles in tech, finance and creative industries are increasingly skill-driven, with employers favouring candidates who can learn quickly and contribute practical knowledge to dynamic teams.
For companies confronted with vacancies that linger unfilled, opening up to candidates with transferable skills is a pragmatic solution. Transferable skills, such as project management, critical thinking, leadership, and digital literacy can bridge gaps between industries and roles.
Experienced professionals, including those over 45, possess a wealth of these abilities, honed across careers, which directly benefit organisations seeking reliability, soft skills, and the ability to mentor junior staff.
Social Security Reductions and Salary Support: ADEM’s Schemes
Luxembourg’s national employment agency, ADEM, offers tangible incentives for hiring unemployed candidates, including those over a certain age. Companies recruiting eligible older candidates can benefit from social security reductions and direct salary support, offsetting perceived risks while reaping the benefits of experience and stability these employees offer. Hiring through ADEM’s schemes also helps companies meet diversity and inclusion targets and supports broader corporate social responsibility goals.
Unlocking Competitive Advantage
- By looking beyond narrow job specifications and placing value on core competencies, companies can:
- Alleviate immediate talent shortages in sectors like AML/KYC and Compliance, where finding the “perfect” CV often proves impossible, without using the right recruitment firm!
- Access a fast-track to upskilling and reskilling. Initiatives such as the Skillsbridges programme and Diplom+ offer short courses in high-demand areas like data analysis and digital technologies.
- Build more resilient teams by integrating seasoned professionals who not only bring proven operational know-how but are often more loyal and eager to contribute to workplace culture and peer development.
Call to Action: From Policy to Practice
The Luxembourg government and ADEM have built the infrastructure to help companies succeed by tapping into this available pool of skilled, motivated candidates. What’s needed now is for hiring managers and business leaders to adjust recruitment mindsets:
- Review job ads and role requirements for unnecessary barriers that may exclude experienced or cross-sector candidates.
- Partner with ADEM and participate in subsidy programmes.
- Recognise the business case for transferable skills, not just as a fallback, but as a strategy for building strong, adaptive organisations ready for the future.
As Luxembourg’s market navigates a period of transition, the companies that embrace skills, not only degrees, and that offer opportunities to all qualified individuals, stand to gain most. The talent is here, ready and waiting.