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With three official languages, Luxembourg is known to be a place of multilingualism. But which language is currently most valued in the work place?
While Luxembourgish, French, and German have been dominant languages in the Grand Duchy for a significant time, English has in recent years also managed to establish itself as a viable option in the work place.
This multilingualism was recently highlighted again when Luxembourgish journalist Philip Crowther went viral for his ability to easily switch between six languages when doing his reports.
Our colleagues from RTL 5minutes talked to the National Employment Agency (ADEM) about the languages most spoken and most required in the work place. Looking at French employment seekers, 26.1% of them speak only French. Looking at the totality of applicants, 22.7% claim to speak all three of the official languages, as well as English. 19.7% of them speak French and English, and 9.2% indicate speaking the three official languages.
ADEM further conveyed that French and English are most in demand among their job offers. 21.1% require only French, 20.1% only English, and 17.1% both. This means that people who speak both languages are eligible for around 60% of all open positions.
Only 13.7% of their offers require people to speak all three official languages, as is the case in public service for instance. 6.4% also require English apart from the other three. People who only speak Luxembourgish are eligible for 0.6% of positions, Luxembourgish and German for 0.5%, Luxembourgish and English for 0.2%, and Luxembourgish, German, and English for 0.1%.
However, just because a certain language is less in demand, it does not mean that it cannot be an important factor to help get a higher salary, as a recent Statec enquiry showed.