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The current labour market is characterised by a paradox: high unemployment and, despite this, companies struggling to find the right staff.
This paradox obviously exists not only in Luxembourg, but it is particularly pronounced there.
The number of jobseekers registered with ADEM has been rising for the past four years. Currently, nearly 20,000 residents and 4,000 non-residents are directly available for our labour market. In addition to these, there are nearly 4,500 unemployed people benefiting from an employment scheme whilst awaiting long-term integration into the labour market.
The number of job vacancies reported to ADEM, although lower than a few years ago, currently exceeds 7,000. Every month, around 15,000 people are recruited in Luxembourg. Although the labour market is therefore significantly less dynamic than before, a significant number of people are recruited each month.
So why do these recruitments not reduce the number of jobseekers?
There are, of course, many answers to this question, and it is not my intention here to provide an exhaustive or even objective analysis of these reasons.
I would like to take advantage of this opportunity to highlight one factor that I believe is essential.
Unemployment does not automatically fall when recruitment increases. It falls (at least directly) only if, and only if, employers decide to recruit people who are unemployed and not others.
I am, of course, fully aware that this is not quite so simple and that candidates must match the job profiles. I am also fully aware that markets are becoming increasingly competitive and that our businesses need high-performing and competent candidates.
Where I do disagree, however, is when employers use these arguments to explain why they do not register their job vacancies with ADEM. Refusing to accept applications from people simply because they are registered with ADEM is not only detrimental to the company – particularly at a time when a significant number of highly qualified candidates are unemployed – but is also illogical from an economic perspective. Failing to take decisive action against unemployment is costly for the State and therefore for all taxpayers, including businesses. The cost is both direct – as unemployment benefits must be funded – and indirect, as persistently high unemployment weakens our social system and risks undermining social harmony.
This is where I would like to share a dream…
I dream of the day when being a jobseeker registered with the ADEM is no longer seen as a weakness but as an asset! Where, if an employer had to choose between two candidates with an equal level of skills, they would choose the person who is currently unemployed rather than the one who would have to be poached from a competitor or travel a long way. A sort of positive discrimination, in a sense, which would come about because companies, as part of their social responsibility efforts, would have set themselves targets for recruiting jobseekers. A business leader might, for example, decide that 10 per cent of the recruitments made by their HR department this year should be unemployed people. This percentage would obviously vary from one sector to another and from one company size to another. What matters, however, is not so much the figure itself as the intention. The realisation that, in order to reduce unemployment, we need to recruit jobseekers and that everyone should do their bit at their own level.
This indicator could be applied in many different ways: some may wish to place greater emphasis on hiring young jobseekers to enable them to gain their first work experience, whilst others may be more inclined to prioritise the recruitment of ‘older workers’ or beneficiaries of international protection, for example.
This dream is no longer really a dream…
In fact, this is exactly what has been in place for the past year, with 27 Luxembourg companies having signed up to the ‘Enterprise, Partner for Employment’ programme ’ programme,
set up by ADEM in cooperation with the Union of Luxembourg Enterprises. These 27 companies have set themselves a quantitative target measuring the proportion of jobseekers amongst all annual recruitments. This indicator varies amongst them, ranging from 5 per cent to 45 per cent, but it consistently exceeds the proportion of jobseekers actually recruited in previous years.
To achieve the set target, we have agreed, together with these companies, on actions to be carried out jointly. The initial results are very positive. What is particularly remarkable is that this target is transforming the way we work together. As we share a common objective, we are undoubtedly more focused, more committed, and arguably more creative too; and, crucially, we are in much more regular contact with one another.
I would therefore like to thank the management teams at Auchan, BCEE, BIL, BDO, Cactus, CHL, Centre hospitalier du Nord, CHEM, Cocottes, Concept & Partners, Clearstream, Elisabeth, Forvis Mazars, the Robert Schuman Hospitals, Hornbach, Husky, Kronospan, La Provençale, Luxair, Luxcargo Handling, Onet, Panelux-Fischer, Post, Raiffeisen, Reckinger, Sodexo and Stëftung Hëllef Doheem, who have committed to this initiative.
I hope that many others will follow suit. In any case, ADEM is here to support you and provide you with the data needed to establish this new ‘recruitment of jobseekers’ indicator.