Written by Mathilde Obert
Published on 10.08.2022 • Edited on 10.08.2022 at 09:38
According to PwC, 25% of employees want to leave their jobs in Luxembourg, compared to 15% in France and 13% in Belgium. (Photo: Shutterstock)
With a job market under pressure, obstacles to teleworking and a housing problem, Luxembourg is also affected by the phenomenon that started in the United States last year and is making its way into Europe.
In the US, 48 million employees quit in 2021 and about 4 million per month in 2022, according to several international sources. What has been dubbed the "great resignation" consists of leaving one's employer abruptly, without the employer having seen it coming. Until recently, Europe had dodged this trend, but several countries are witnessing it in their territory. France saw the number of permanent contracts terminated rise by 20% in 2021, as French broadcasting station Europe 1 recently explained.
Luxembourg is considered to be an at-risk country, notably because its labour market is tight, with high demand. But also because it is handicapped by the price of housing, mobility problems, etc.
One in four Luxembourg employees considers the probability of changing employer in Luxembourg to be "very" or "extremely high" within 12 months, according to a PwC study taken up by several media and carried out among around 1,200 employees in each state. At the start of the year, nearly a quarter of Luxembourg’s workforce (24%) was planning to change jobs, a survey by the chamber of employees, CSL, found, as people were largely unsatisfied with working conditions that continued to deteriorate in 2021.
National jobs agency Adem does not have any figures on this subject.
The recruitment federation FR2S notes that "employees leave their job for a yes or a no". Its co-president, Nathalie Delebois, explains: "If they don't get the salary increase they want, they go and see if the grass is greener elsewhere.”
The positions sought by the companies "are not creations, but replacements". She explains this movement of departures and arrivals of employees by a labour market "more dynamic than in other European countries" and largely favourable to candidates. According to the latest figures from Adem, Luxembourg had 13,599 job vacancies at the end of June, a record number, up 39.7% in one year.
The dynamics of the market and the strong position of employees in relation to employers are therefore driving the desire to improve one's salary income. This is especially true since inflation is making many workers poorer.
Countries where wage indexation is automatic according to the evolution of different variables, such as Belgium, seem to be less affected by the 'great resignation'. Does the postponement of the index push Luxembourg employees to look for a better salary elsewhere? No, according to Delebois. "Candidates want a higher salary, but if there is no index [at national level], this concerns all employers." Even though salary increases may be more or less frequent from one company to another, some have collective agreements that provide for increases according to seniority, for example.
But for Delebois, the phenomenon, triggered by the covid crisis, is generational. "There is a search for meaning and balance.” Hence the greater difficulties in recruiting in sectors such as catering: "Young people no longer want to work during weekends."
"We systematically ask companies how many days off they offer and what their teleworking policy is, which we didn't do before," says the recruiter.
Delebois fears that the limits to teleworking for border workers will exacerbate the situation. "An accountant from Metz will be more inclined to accept a position in Paris, where they can do more teleworking.
Another problem is housing. "Border workers want to return to France, and spending two hours in the car is no longer of interest to them. If access to housing were easier, they would migrate to Luxembourg.”
Isabelle Pigeron-Piroth, a researcher at the University of Luxembourg and a specialist in the cross-border labour market, confirms the country's loss of attractiveness. "It is possible that the demographic challenge, with the major labour needs in all the components of the Greater Region, will see a certain number of cross-border workers return to their country of residence. Especially if we take into account mobility concerns, fuel prices and tax reforms that lead to higher taxes for border workers.”
The Grand Est region seems to be particularly affected by the wave of resignations. In joint statistics, Pôle emploi and the Regional Directorate for the Economy, Employment, Labour and Solidarity (DREETS ) counted 2,080 jobseekers entering the labour market after resigning, an increase of 5.6% in one quarter and 31.6% in one year. At national level, they increased by 2.1% in one quarter and by 29.8% in one year. In both cases, the number of unemployed people entering the labour market after being made redundant has decreased.
It remains to be seen whether inflation will not, on the other hand, slow down these resignations for greater security. "I don't know, but for the moment it's madness," concludes Delebois.
This story was first published in French on Paperjam. It has been translated and edited for Delano.