09/09/08

Quality of Living in Luxembourg, a Recruitment Factor?

This year Luxembourg rose one position in the yearly ranking of cities by their quality of life. The recent Mercer survey ranked Luxembourg seventeenth, far ahead of Paris, London and New York.

Luxembourg spares no effort to attract new talents and in particular professionals with a family. The attractive wage level and the high quality of living are strong arguments in this endeavour. The social security system is a further major asset. Luxembourg invested heavily in health infrastructure, including the building of a hospital in Kirchberg at the leading edge of technical progress. In addition, its international and multicultural work environment makes Luxembourg stand out. Luxembourg is indeed a place where three countries meet and as thus its foreign population amounts to 38%. These are all strong arguments in the eyes of potential job seekers who consider settling in Luxembourg.

Safety, another major asset

Slagin Parakatil, senior researcher at Mercer, is convinced that “quality of living is essential in encouraging expatriate employees with transferable skills to accept international assignments”. He added: “Personal and family safety is of paramount importance when employees consider opportunities overseas”. Cities that are known for their high rate of violence and crime do not attract highly qualified professionals. Once again, Luxembourg comes off well in the safety ranking, as the city ranks highest for personal safety.

Young candidates, however, have other expectations. The wage level and the possibility to gain professional experience are their leading motives; yet the expectations of the new generation are changing. The young professionals pay more attention to their work environment and the available leisure activities. And Luxembourg has yet to make efforts here, although a big step forward was last year’s inauguration of the high-speed train TGV which connects now Luxembourg with Paris in 2:15 hours.


Source: Quality of Living global city rankings – Mercer survey

Sophie Sellier
English version: Robert Mouris



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