The Minister of Labour, Employment and Social Economy, Dan Kersch, the Director of the National Employment Agency (ADEM), Isabelle Schlesser, and the President of UEL, Nicolas Buck, signed today the agreement “Companies, partners for employment” covering the years 2021 to 2023.

This is the third agreement between ADEM and UEL, which began working closely together in 2015. Various actions have been carried out together: raising awareness among companies of the services offered by ADEM, organising recruitment days in different sectors or setting up tailor-made training for jobseekers for specific companies or sectors of activity.

2021-2023: New context, new programme

At the end of 2020, the context of the pandemic had a significant impact on the labour market. The number of jobseekers has increased compared to the previous year and the number of job offers available at ADEM is decreasing.

“The whole world of work is changing. Professions and skills are changing, hence the need to invest in the development of skills that are in high demand now and in the future,” insisted Isabelle Schlesser.

Nicolas Buck underlined the importance of the “Companies, partners for employment” programme and the UEL’s desire to renew the partnership with ADEM: “This partnership, which testifies to the commitment of companies and ADEM, was a success. We invite all companies to commit themselves to this initiative and in particular to call on ADEM for the recruitments they plan to make.

Faced with the current uncertainties, ADEM and UEL have decided to focus on priority actions chosen annually according to the rapidly changing context and have set 4 objectives:

• To increase the number of job seekers hired and to facilitate recruitment by companies by strengthening the dissemination of information to companies
• To reduce the imbalance between job offers and profiles through training adapted to the candidates
• Strengthen knowledge about the current and future labour market
• Supporting recruitment for occupations with labour shortages

Actions planned in 2021

UEL and ADEM will work in 2021 on the following actions

• Effective and multilateral communication of information to companies
• Analysis of available labour market data to understand and anticipate skills trends
• Organisation of targeted training for job seekers
• Organisation of regular recruitment events (virtual and/or physical)
• Conclusion of bilateral agreements with companies willing to commit to employment
• Implementation of a digital tool to facilitate feedback from companies on candidates assigned by ADEM
• Strengthening partnerships between ADEM and commercial job boards

Dan Kersch welcomes the actions implemented by UEL and ADEM in favour of jobseekers thanks to this partnership. “Direct collaboration between the State and companies seems to me essential in order to obtain the best results in the interest of our labour market. I am therefore confident that the new programme for the next three years will produce results.”