Luxembourg makes foreign job seekers dream
The Grand Duchy is one of the most attractive European countries in terms of employment, along with Switzerland and the United Kingdom, according to a report by the Indeed job portal.
According to an international study
The Grand Duchy is one of the most attractive European countries in terms of employment, along with Switzerland and the United Kingdom, according to a report by the Indeed job portal.
With the pandemic running out of steam, cross-border job search has rebounded at European level, the authors of this study found.a study of the Indeed.com platform on professional mobility in Europe published recently.
This resilience is particularly marked in certain countries, those which have a solid labor market and offer high incomes. And in this game, no one does better than Luxembourg. The Grand Duchy is indeed at the top of the ranking of the most attractive countries for international job seekers and ahead of Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Germany comes in fourth place. France and Belgium rank 7th and 8th respectively.
Luxembourg also occupies the second step of the podium of the countries where the labor market is recovering the fastest after the pandemic, just after Denmark and ahead of the United Kingdom. The ranking was established on the basis of job offers published on the portal.
Well-to-do brains in Luxembourg
The study notes that in most European countries, in 2021 there were more job searches outside the country than inside. In other words, most nations in Europe are facing a brain drain. A problem that Luxembourg also encounters. But the country sees many more job seekers coming in than it sees leaving its borders. In this, the Grand Duchy, but also Switzerland and the United Kingdom, “are well ahead of the competition in terms of net brain gain”.
The authors of the study point out that Luxembourg “rely heavily on international job seekers” to win talent. Thus, on the Luxembourg site of Indeed, which is also one of the smallest in Europe, “74% of all searches in 2021 came from jobseekers located outside the country”.
For international job searches from France, Luxembourg will concentrate 9.8% of searches in 2021, ranking behind Switzerland and Canada. 9.7% of Belgian job seekers wanted to work in Luxembourg last year. Their preference went first to France (30%), to the Netherlands (22%) then to the United States (10.4%), before their neighbor Luxembourg. However, the Grand Duchy is not one of the countries most sought after for work by German job seekers.
The authors of the study insist that there are several reasons why one country will seem more attractive than another for international job seekers. Starting with wealth. Candidates for work abroad are primarily looking for well-paid positions, mainly in management, business, finance or professional services.
The possibility of teleworking is also a factor that enhances the attractiveness of a country. There has been growth for these kinds of positions, both in terms of demand and supply. The phenomenon is particularly developed in France, Germany and the United Kingdom.
The Indeed.com platform study also confirms that many employers are ready to hire foreign workers this year. “Foreign nationals certainly do not appear to be a second choice for employers,” the authors point out. The reason is simple: many employers, and in particular Luxembourgers, are faced with a shortage of labor on the national labor market.
Foreign job seekers are also assigned more frequently to positions that are difficult to fill, such as nursing, medicine, engineering, construction or IT.
But hiring foreign workers is not without pitfalls. The bosses surveyed highlight several difficulties: insufficient language skills, lack of required qualifications or certifications, lack of knowledge of the local market, etc.
“Searching for a job abroad has never been easier. This means that employers face competition for talent not only within their country, but also from employers in other countries,” the authors further explain.
This shows how crucial talent retention has become, at a time when some countries are facing a brain drain that is simply undermining their national labor market.
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