Forecasting recruitment needs in industry

The Federation of Luxembourg Industrialists recently published the results of a survey forecasting recruitment needs in different industrial sectors over the next two years. The findings indicate some clear trends: production workers, mechanics and engineers will be most in demand when it comes to future recruitment. Through this initiative, the employer federation aims to match company needs more effectively and to advocate a training policy centred on these needs.

Forecasting recruitment needs

The Federation of Luxembourg Industrialists (Fédération des industriels luxembourgeois, FEDIL) has been carrying out a survey on qualifications and recruitment forecasts for a period of 10 years. These surveys were conducted in collaboration with the Chamber of Commerce (Chambre de Commerce Luxembourg, CDC) and with experts from the Ministry of National Education and Vocational Training (Ministère de l’Éducation nationale et de la formation professionnelle, MEN), the Employment Administration (Administration de l’Emploi, ADEM) and the think tank CEPS/INSTEAD (Centre d’Études de Populations, de Pauvreté et de Politiques Socio-Economiques/International Networks for Studies in Technology, Environment, Alternatives, Development). Although the data collected are based on forecasts whose subsequent accuracy can never be verified, the survey’s organisers claim that it constitutes an indicator of existing trends and developments in the job market and within companies. Due to changes in the economic climate, the survey respondents have given very variable forecasts from one survey to another. Nevertheless, the different editions of the survey have underlined the importance of qualifications and level of education, particularly for jobs in administration, management and commerce, as well as in the technical field.

Latest survey findings

The companies that took part in the latest survey represent 23,713 employees, or 79% of the total workforce in the sectors studied: food, beverages and tobacco; steel manufacturing and metalworking; the chemicals and parachemicals industry; and construction. The forecasts estimate some 1,248 recruitments over the next two years, mainly in technical and production areas; of these potential positions, 45.1% will involve the creation of new positions and 54.9% will consist of job replacements. Out of these 1,248 estimated recruitments, 216 positions would concern jobs in administration, management and commerce, while the remaining 1,032 positions would relate to technical or production jobs.

New positions and replacements

In administrative occupations, most of the expected recruitments will involve the creation of new positions (58.3%), while in production jobs, recruitment will mainly be due to replacements (65.4%). In technical fields, slightly more of the recruitments will be due to new positions (54.5%) than to replacements (45.5%).

The steel manufacturing sector is forecasting the highest number of recruitments with 353 potential jobs, which will largely be due to new posts (68.6%). This is followed by the construction sector and the chemicals and parachemicals industry, with each of these sectors forecasting 145 recruitments, and the non-metallic mineral products industry expecting 134 recruitments over the next two years. It should be noted, however, that in the chemicals industry, less than half of these recruitments (45.7%) relate to new posts, while only 27.6% do so in the construction sector.

Educational levels

In administrative, management and commercial occupations, companies’ requirements in terms of educational levels are divided between upper secondary level and university education; the former will be required for 41.7% of the expected positions and the latter for 35.2% of the positions. For technical occupations, 33% of positions will require a technical or professional qualification, while for higher-level occupations, 19.9% of forecast positions will require a master’s degree or doctorate and 18.2% a short-duration higher education qualification. Some 14.4% of the forecast recruitments in technical occupations will be for trained technicians.

In occupations relating to production, the level of a technical and vocational proficiency certificate, the so-called CATP (Certificat d’aptitude technique et professionnelle), or lower, will be required in 80.5% of cases.

Most desireable qualifications

In relation to administrative positions, technical sales qualifications are most likely to lead to a job, while qualifications as an office worker, secretary or switchboard operator only take second position in the forecasts. With regard to technical positions, engineering is deemed as being the most common qualification that will be required in the future, followed by electrical mechanics and electronic engineering in the energy sector. In occupations specific to the construction sector, electricians will be most in demand, followed by design engineers and civil engineering equipment mechanics.

In the field of production, a majority of the estimated number of recruitments will relate to jobs with the qualification of ‘production worker’, with 164 out of a total 285 estimated positions for this type of occupation.

Vocational training

The findings of previous surveys had indicated an important need, in terms of personnel, for production workers. As a result, FEDIL in cooperation with the Ministry of Labour and Employment (Ministère du travail et de l’emploi) and MEN organised training sessions for unemployed people to qualify for this type of occupation. Using the same collaborative approach, the organisations carried out vocational training courses for safety agents. The content of these training courses was developed in close cooperation with the National Centre of Continuous Vocational Training (Centre national de la formation professionnelle continue, CNFPC), ADEM and companies from the sector. To date, a total of 20 such training sessions have taken place.

Odette Wlodarski, Prevent