Jobs forecast and salary trends for the Luxembourg market in 2012

Robert van den Oord, Country Manager of Robert Walters in Luxembourg provides his thoughts on the jobs market and salaries for 2012 in Luxembourg.

The impact of the new crisis on salaries in the financial sector

With the crisis ongoing for several years we began to see stability in salary levels in 2011 and the reduction of secondary benefits. However this was only on average and not across the board, with variations seen by sector and job. One main focus for the market is compliance and risk. Professionals with the necessary technical skills are in high demand but are often not actively looking for new opportunities. The banking sector is seen as the most important labour market for ; however we expect that this will change for some aspects of financial services over the coming years.

Our expectations for salary increases and decreases by sector and profession

Finance salaries
In the financial services sector, particularly the areas of regulatory reporting, real estate and private equity, the demand for qualified professionals never declined and ACCA qualified accountants in particular, are able to command moderate increases in salary.

Risk and compliance salaries
Professionals working in the areas of risk and compliance are in high demand due to new regulations and processes requiring implementation. This area will continue to grow as European Union leaders establish new regulations for the banking sector to avoid another crisis in the future. With most financial institutions seeking candidates with the relevant experience in this field, and the market being candidate short, suitable professionals looking for a new opportunity can expect to see salary increases in 2012.

Real estate and private equity salaries
Highly qualified professionals with expertise in real estate and private equity were also sought after. Organisations searched for candidates from the more stable markets of such as the Nordic countries, who were sought for commercial roles. As customers of banks see these countries as a safe haven, many are keen to employ candidates with work experience in that area.

HR salaries
The area where we do not expect to see a salary increase is HR and specifically the more generalist roles, and sales jobs within most sectors; banking, commerce and industry.

Language skills in demand
Language skills and German in particular, were sought for all types of roles. Although is close to geographically, it remained challenging to source these candidates.

Economic implications on salary strategies for human resources departments

Most major changes to salary levels have already occurred and any increases in salary in 2012 will only be for small increments. Candidates today are focused on more than just salary rates when they look to move jobs and a stable working environment and training and development opportunities have become increasingly more important. Human resources departments need to focus on these areas, particularly if salary increases are not an option, in order to attract top candidates. Work/life balance has also become increasingly more important to candidates. Over the past few years, those candidates not made redundant saw their workload increase and as these work levels became the norm; candidates began to search for new opportunities offering better work/life balance.

Jobs forecast for 2012

Although it is difficult to predict hiring activity levels in 2012, the labour market in did show strength during the crisis of the previous few years. still has a good economy with a lot of strong points and the capability to attract new business and therefore create new jobs. We expect the labour market to be stable in 2012. It remains an employer driven market and we will need to manage candidate expectations closely. We have successfully met employer demands in 2011 and will continue to partner with our clients to assist them through what may be, in some respects, a challenging year in 2012.

2012 Global Salary Survey

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