Moving to Luxembourg, when you come from abroad, is a major challenge. In order to facilitate the arrival of the talents they need, companies are redoubling their efforts, relying on relocation services: finding housing, administrative procedures, preparing to welcome families... The attractiveness of the country is at stake, a central issue that concerns both the public and private sectors.
More and more, companies are taking steps to seek, sometimes very far away, the specific profiles needed to continue growing. In order to convince them to come and settle in Luxembourg, they do not hesitate to support new recruits in their moving process and to make every effort to facilitate their installation.
2024 was a record year for visa applications in Luxembourg (India, Turkey, China and Morocco being in order the countries that requested the most visas in 2024). The Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs sees this as a testament to the attractiveness of the country as a work destination.
In this context, we have also seen the development of agencies specializing in “relocation”, an English term that refers to the process surrounding the hiring of a foreign employee, settling in Luxembourg, in order to work and live there.
” 90% of our customers are businesses, explains Stéphane Compain, CEO of the LuxRelo agency, a specialist in the subject. They call on us once the foreign national has been hired, to support their repositioning in Luxembourg. Our range of services is quite broad. It all depends on the needs of the person and what the company takes care of itself. If the person is a non-European citizen, the steps must be taken to obtain a work permit. Then comes the search for temporary housing, then for permanent housing. At the same time, you have to take care of all the administrative paperwork, and at the end of the process comes the residence permit. ”
From one company to another, the support for employees recruited outside the country differs according to several criteria.
At PwC Luxembourg, Séverine Moca, Head of Human Capital Operations, manages several aspects of the staff, including the International Mobility team. ” Our team coordinates several international mobility programs internally, she explains. We recruit various profiles who come to work for us as part of exchanges that last from a few months to one or two years. Employees recruited in this context benefit from a “relocation package”. We put them in contact with relocation agencies, which take care of the immigration procedures necessary for them to come and work in Luxembourg if necessary, but also to pick them up at the airport and place a basket of groceries in their fridge, when they arrive on a holiday or a Sunday. It may seem like a simple detail, but that kind of effort makes a difference. ”.
A wide variety of foreign profiles
The collaborators sought by PwC abroad are most often auditors and consultants. ” These are senior or manager profiles ” explains Séverine Moca.
At LuxRelo, we see all sorts of profiles pass by. ” We work for all sectors: finance, services, industries. This ranges from the new employee to the CEO. Their origins are very variable. There is also a geopolitical and economic impact on the flow of people. For example, the war in Ukraine brought a lot of Ukrainians to Luxembourg territory. In the years to come, with what is currently happening in the United States, we may see more Americans, who knows? ” asks Stéphane Compain.
Some countries provide specific profiles, such as India, which brings a lot of workers into the IT sector, like Meera (Editor's note: the first name has been changed) and her husband Amit, expatriates in Luxembourg. ” My husband and I arrived in Luxembourg with our two children in August 2018., recalls Meera. He works in IT and had a great job opportunity in a bank in Luxembourg. He arrived alone in March, because our twins were still babies at the time, so I stayed in India with them. The bank that hired Amit offered him the support of a relocation agency that helped him find temporary housing at first. ”.
Support: the key to successful integration?
For the recruitment of an international profile to be a success, support is a decisive element according to Stéphane Compain. ” We take people by the hand. We guide them. We take care of all the logistical part. This allows them to focus on their new job and the integration of their family if necessary. Our work frees them up a lot of time and relieves them of a lot of stress., explains the manager of the agency. Our customers' human resources can focus on their core business. We relieve them of all the procedures related to relocation, we answer the questions that their new employee asks for them.”
Relocation services, whether offered by an agency or provided by the company directly, facilitate the installation of talent and are essential to attracting them. “From the start, people feel welcomed, accompanied and confident. A traditional move, in a lifetime, is already a stressful event. So imagine when it comes to moving abroad with your whole family, comments Stéphane Compain. We are there to enable them to consider this change of life with peace of mind. ”
The family aspect is in fact one of the major challenges of relocation. In addition to the good integration of the spouse, when there are children in play, it is necessary to be able to send them to school. Depending on the timing of the move, it's no easy task. Stéphane Compain testifies to this:” Sometimes the employee's family arrives later because they can't find a suitable school. When children are young, it is easier, but from the age of 14, as long as they follow a specific program, it is much more complicated. Enrollment dates must match. In addition, there are not a lot of English-speaking schools in Luxembourg, and they are often very expensive. So, the salary should follow ”.
When Meera arrived in Luxembourg to join her husband, she had to wait six months before she could place her children in a nursery. ” Our apartment is located in Esch-sur-Alzette, she explains. When we arrived, there were no places available at the municipal crèche. We were on a waiting list and had to wait six months before we got a free seat. The problem was that the cost was very high for both children at the same time. So I had to wait a bit longer and keep the children with me. I did not work to be able to take care of them ”.
Housing: a major challenge in relocation
Housing is not just a problem for families. Even for a single person without children, coming to work in Luxembourg and staying there is not easy. Especially for young people, whose financial resources are fewer.
At PwC, where the average age of employees does not exceed 32, housing foreign recruits is also a difficulty. ” Housing is not available enough and the cost of rent is high. It is not easy. State aid exists, but little is known about it. For many young people who arrive in the country, it's a bit of a cold shower, because they often end up sharing a flat. Luxembourg has put in place tax incentives for young people, but this is still quite recent, we have to see what this will bring in a few years ” comments Séverine Moca.
In its relocation policy, PwC has chosen not to directly subsidize the housing of new recruits, but to act by offering benefits and, above all, to rely on foresight. ” We have remained on the same course of action for years. We communicate a lot in advance in order to avoid unpleasant surprises as much as possible. The idea is to provide as much information as possible before arriving in Luxembourg ” adds Séverine Moca.
Generally, the employer instructs the relocation agency to find temporary accommodation for the employee and his family, the time to be able to start looking for a nursery or school, to settle questions of insurance, family benefits, taxes, etc. This was the case for Amit and Meera, but not without difficulties. : ” When my husband arrived and started looking for an apartment, he had not yet signed his permanent contract, which chilled most owners. So it took longer than expected. The temporary accommodation was only planned for two weeks and Amit had to stay in a hotel while he could find suitable accommodation for our family. ”
For the director of LuxRelo, housing in Luxembourg is a problematic subject, but no more so than in Geneva, Berlin, London or Dublin. According to him, this is not an obstacle to relocation to Luxembourg, because even if people have to compromise, solutions are always found. According to him, the real challenge lies elsewhere. ” Last year, the rate of people we started working with and who did not finalize their procedures was the highest since we started, he explains. Today, people sometimes realize that even with a significant increase in salary, adding it all up, they won't find their way around. So they decide not to come, or to leave. ”
A growing multiculturality
To continue to attract and retain talent, Luxembourg can count on its internationality, which is constantly developing.
” I have been living in Luxembourg for 25 years and I think that the country has truly internationalized. When you walk down the street, you hear every language. And yet, all you have to do is speak English to be able to get by. That was not the case 4 or 5 years ago. There are more and more foreigners coming from beyond border countries ”, notes Stéphane Compain.
A reflection shared by Séverine Moca:” Luxembourg society is multicultural. A few years ago, it was very Franco-Belgian. Now it speaks every language. In fact, we are increasingly working on multicultural training to help foreigners settle and assimilate local customs. But we also work on multicultural differences and foreign habits that locals might sometimes be offended by. ”.
As for Meera, after an adaptation complicated by Covid, she and her family found their bearings. Her husband changed jobs and she now works at the University of Luxembourg. ” We enjoyed joining the Luxembourg community, she explains. We are very happy here. The infrastructure for families and the public services are really good. There are numerous parks for children, which makes daily life very pleasant ”.
New government projects in 2025
Recognizing the challenges posed by current labour shortages and the future needs of the labour market, the Luxembourg government has set up an interministerial committee entitled the “High Committee for the Attraction, Retention and Development of Talents”. Its objective: “To provide Luxembourg with a concrete marketing strategy, serving as a road map to elevate the nation to the rank of international destination in which to work and live.”
Responsible for defining strategic directions and monitoring government action in a coordinated manner, The High Committee met twice in 2024 and plans to meet again in the spring of this year. Among the projects launched, which should see the light of day in 2025, are the launch of a digital portal online to attract talent and facilitate their integration in Luxembourg and the launch of an “Employers” Toolkit” to support companies that recruit internationally.
