Although skills mismatches in Luxembourg are widely recognised as affecting the whole population, many stakeholders stress that the problem is more severe for migrants from third countries. Public debate has been limited and has focused mainly on upskilling and reskilling the population as a whole.
The rate of overqualification amongst third-country nationals is higher than for EU-citizens or Luxembourg nationals. For the year 2022, Eurostat calculated the following overqualification rates for people employed in Luxembourg: third-country nationals 12,4%, EU-citizens 7,2%, and Luxembourgers of 4,7% – the European average of overqualification of third-country nationals lay at 39,6%.376
These findings are underlined when assessing the results of the 2022 Structure of Earnings Survey (SES), published in 2024, as well as the Luxembourgish 2021 population census. Both studies show that foreign residents have significantly higher overqualification rates than Luxembourgish nationals.
Stakeholders most often identify insufficient language proficiency as the main driver of skills mismatches for migrants. Language ability has cross-cutting effects on labour market integration. It can act as a gatekeeper because it determines access to essential information, such as how to navigate Luxembourg’s labour market and how to complete administrative procedures before the job search even begins.
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