Financial services cannot exist without the professionals that work and live in a financial centre like Luxembourg. The Covid-19 crisis has underscored the importance of the wellbeing of our workforces. Luxembourg will continue to improve its working environment by upgrading its infrastructure and improving quality of life so that the financial industry can thrive.
ENSURING ACCESS TO TALENT
Luxembourg’s financial services workforce employs some 51,000 people, of which about 50% work in the banking sector (including fund-servicing activities), 31% in the fund industry (the parts not performed by banks), 8% in insurance and around 11% in support services. The financial sector also has important indirect effects in terms of employment and value added for the whole of the Luxembourg economy.
Many of those who work in Luxembourg’s financial services industry live in the neighbouring countries, France, Belgium or Germany and commute daily to Luxembourg. Luxembourg employs 100,000 French residents, 50,000 German residents and 50,000 Belgian residents. Together, these commuters make up about two fifths of Luxembourg’s workforce. This also strengthens Luxembourg’s multilingual and multicultural dimension. Furthermore, it allows Luxembourg to draw on a large talent pool of some four million people living within a one-hour commute of its capital. Today, Luxembourg sources its talent from around the world, thanks to the ever- expanding reach of our financial services activities and the multinational origins of the participants in our industry, as well as those of their clients.
Even so, the relentless growth of the Luxembourg financial sector, in both numerical and qualitative terms, as well as the impact of Brexit-related relocations, has strained the Duchy’s talent pool. Government and industry associations are discussing with the University of Luxembourg how its courses might be adapted to the evolving needs of the local industry. The House of Training and the Competence Centre at the University of Luxembourg have also been established to provide the vocational training needs of financial services professionals in an ever-changing industry. The Government’s support for upskilling of financial services staff has proven extremely valuable and effective in helping to avoid redundancies and increased costs. Investment in training is a crucial success factor for the industry. They are also crucial for those public sector authorities which need to ensure their staff remain up-to-speed with the evolution in financial services.
Luxembourg’s government is also in the process of developing a national talent strategy and is looking at the issue in a holistic way, including aspects such as housing, education, taxation and many others.
ENHANCING THE QUALITY OF LIFE
Best
country
for economy and job security
2nd in the world
for attracting talent
3.6 languages per person
most multi-lingual country in Europe
Luxembourg can certainly point to a very high quality of life, as shown by numerous international studies and rankings.
The future of remote work
During the lockdowns mandated to stem the spread of the pandemic, more than 90% of the workforce of Luxembourg’s financial industry worked remotely. Employees, employers and supervisors expressed a high degree of satisfaction with the way in which this unprecedented change worked out. Employers and employees have come to realize the benefits of maintaining some aspects of this when normal w ork life resumes. Good reasons exist for maintaining a physical office as the principal workspace, but the experience of the lockdown is likely to stimulate reflection on more flexible working patterns. Given the fact that a large share of Luxembourg’s workforce commutes into the Grand Duchy from neighbouring France, Germany and Belgium, this would involve these countries in finding pragmatic and workable solutions on issues around taxation, pension and social security contributions.
ADAPTING THE INFRASTRUCTURE
With its economy enjoying consistent above-average growth rates for many years, Luxembourg has had to make significant investments in developing and upgrading its infrastructure. Luxembourg’s public investment stands at 4.4% of GDP for 2020, well above the EU average. The government have decided to keep the public investment at the same level post-Covid, while putting an additional focus on screening the sustainable nature of public investments more broadly.
Entire new city zones have been developed over recent years. In Kirchberg, in Cloche d’Or and in Belval and many other sites, commercial and residential real estate is being developed to meet the needs of a growing economy and those who work in it.
By the end of 2020, a new tram service will cross the City from Kirchberg to the Central station and, by the end of 2023, the line will stretch from the airport to Cloche d’Or, significantly alleviating traffic congestion within the city limits. A new railway station is also to be built in Howald for high-speed train connections, while the airport will be expanded.
As of March 2020, all public transport (tram, bus, train) within the country is free. Luxembourg is the first country in the world to take this important step to encourage people to use public transport.
Luxembourg continues to expand the availability of international schooling. In several of the public schools it has created an English-language curriculum, leading to the IB or EB diploma. As part of the public school system, these courses are free. Several private, fee-paying schools exist in Luxembourg, such as the International School, St. Georges School, Sainte Sophie and others. In addition, Luxembourg being one of the European capitals and so home to several EU institutions, has a large European School, which, subject to certain conditions, admits students from parents not working at the EU institutions.
IT and communication infrastructure are other areas in which Luxembourg is sparing no effort and cost to remain at the cutting edge of industry standards. One of the reasons the financial industry could manage working offsite so well during the Covid-19 lockdown is in great part due to the high quality of the network infrastructure.
All these investments underscore Luxembourg’s commitment to ensuring an environment in which its financial industry can continue to flourish.
AMBITION STATEMENT :
By 2025, Luxembourg will support the continued expansion of its financial industry by:
- enhancing
the coordination of government, academic and industry’s talent development efforts - further
raising Luxembourg’s profile among highly skilled workers and top students
- increasing
Luxembourg’s attractiveness through adaptation of the legal and fiscal frameworks for expats - enlarging
the international tuition offer available in Luxembourg
Continue Reading the other chapters :
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At the Heart of Europe
Further expand Luxembourg's role as a cross-border centre of excellence and EU hub.
Read More -
Complementarity to other EU Centres
Deepening Luxembourg's role as a prime destination for international finance.
Read More -
Leading on sustainability
Leading the drive to increase the total level of funds in sustainable investments from the billions to the trillons of euros.
Read More
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Pushing Innovation
Build on Luxembourg's proven track record of product and technological innovation.
Read More -
Responsible Governance
Continue to build Luxembourg's Financial industry on sustainable principles in taxation and regulation.
Read More -
Nurturing the Human Dimension
Support the continued expansion of the Luxembourg financial industry.
Read More