Luxembourg civil service has 3,500 unfilled posts amid struggle to recruit

A total of 3,500 civil service posts in Luxembourg remain unfilled, Civil Service Minister Serge Wilmes said on Tuesday, more than three times the number at the end of last year.

Just 375 posts are currently advertised on the govjobs.lu website, Wilmes said in response to a written parliamentary question from Pirate deputy Sven Clement.

Of the 3,500 vacancies, 2,000 are newly created positions, and 1,500 are to replace existing posts.

The 2025 budget provided funding for hiring 1,575 new staff in different positions, with a focus on roles such as computer scientists, lawyers, teachers, educators and engineers.

In November, Wilmes said that 1,100 posts remained vacant. However, on Tuesday the minister confirmed that the search to replace retirees or workers who recently left has still not started.

It comes despite a huge increase in the number of civil servants over the past decade.

A total of 34,497 staff are employed full-time by the Luxembourg state, according to data provided by Wilmes, representing a 42% increase from 2016, with 10,945 posts filled over the past nine years.

However, the public sector cannot keep up with the demand for certain profiles, despite the attractive working conditions enjoyed by Luxembourg’s public sector employees compared to those in the private sector.

Expats welcome

The proportion of Luxembourg nationals in the public sector far outweighs non-nationals, with the reverse true in the private sector. Just 9% of public sector employees are non-Luxembourgers.

As of December 31, 2024, 3,408 nationals of other EU countries worked for the Luxembourg state, the Ministry of the Civil Service explained in response to a request from the Luxemburger Wort. Their number has more than tripled since 2010.

Nine out of ten such staff come from one of Luxembourg’s three neighbouring countries or from Portugal, figures which exclude anyone who has dual nationality, who are automatically listed as Luxembourgers in the statistics.

One factor contributing to this imbalance is the strict language requirements for civil service jobs. Most positions require proficiency in Luxembourg’s three administrative languages — Luxembourgish, French, and German — which many foreign applicants do not meet.

In the public sector, IT is particularly affected by staff shortages, but there are also large number of vacancies in healthcare, engineering, finance, and construction.

However, some public sector jobs have begun easing language requirements. A handful of positions now accept applicants who speak just one of the country’s official languages.

For example, a position for a network engineer currently advertised is looking for skills in programming rather than linguistic proficiency.

(With additional reporting by the Luxemburger Wort)