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1. Youth employment measures

2. Flexicurity measures focusing on young people

3. Reconciliation of private and working life for young people

4. Funding of schemes/initiatives

5. Quality assurance

Youth employment measures

There are various youth employment measures which aim at fostering the access of young job-seekers to employment.

The #YouthYourFuture programme, led by the National Employment Agency is aimed at young jobseekers under the age of 30. The programme is co-financed by the Employment Fund and the European Social Fund. It helps them to develop their personal and digital skills, to set a realistic professional goal and to find a future job. The programme includes individual coaching and trainings (soft skills, digital skills), evaluation of competences and practical experience. The total number of participants was 339 in 2020 (MTEESS, 2021) and 186 in 2021 (MTEESS, 2022).

The employment initiation contract (CIE; contrat d'initiation à l'emploi) and the employment support contract (CAE; contrat d'appui emploi) are specific employment contracts for young people under 30 years of age. They are financially supported by the Employment Fund in order to support the creation of new jobs and to help young people integrate into the labour market and develop their skills. A contract which includes the different learning objectives forms the basis of this type of contract and has to be signed by the young jobseeker, the National Employment Agency and the employer.

• The CIE provides initial, practical experience for young jobseekers under 30 years of age who have been registered with the National Employment Agency for at least 3 months. The total number of signed contracts was 561 in 2021 (MTEESS, 2022).
• The Employment Fund reimburses a share of the basic salary compensation to the employer and pays all of the employer's social security costs.
• The CAE enables both qualified and unqualified young people under 30 years of age to receive practical and theoretical training if they have been registered with the National Employment Agency for at least 3 months. The employment support contract is only meant for employers who do not have the legal status of a commercial company, i.e. the state, municipalities, public interest establishments, or non-profit institutions, associations or groupings of people.The total number of signed contracts was 399 in 2021 (MTEESS, 2022).
• For the first 12 months, the Employment Fund pays 75% of the salary compensation received by the young jobseeker and 100% of the employer's costs. If the contract is extended, the Employment Fund will reimburse 50% of the compensation received by the young jobseeker for the duration of the extension.

The Youth Guarantee was introduced by the Council of the European Union and aims at fighting unemployment among young people in the EU.

In Luxembourg, the Youth Guarantee is implemented by the National Employment Agency and the ALJ (Antenne locale pour jeunes), which are part of the National Youth Service. The two organisations work closely together to offer a perspective and added value concerning the professional future within 4 months after formal registration to the Youth Guarantee. This offer can be a job, an apprenticeship, a training measure, further education or practical experience during a voluntary service.

In 2021, a total of 31 counsellors provided guidance and follow-up for the young people in the programme. The total number of inscriptions was 4 397 (MTEESS, 2022).

Flexicurity measures focusing on young people

The above-mentioned schemes represent the flexicurity approach to youth labour market policy.

Reconciliation of private and working life for young people

The leave for youth workers (congé jeunesse) is an important youth-specific programme that supports the reconciliation of private and working life for young people. The leave for youth workers entitles young people to take time off from work so that they can participate in voluntary activities within the country and abroad, such as internships, study days or seminars, holiday camps or clubs, etc.

The beneficiary of a leave for youth workers is entitled to a total of 60 days off throughout their professional career, while not exceeding 20 days over a period of 2 years.

The duration of leave for youth workers is treated as an active period of work. During the leave, employers must pay their employee a compensatory allowance corresponding to the average daily salary, which may not exceed 4 times the social minimum wage for unskilled workers (see: 2.4 Youth volunteering at national level).

There are no further youth-specific policy measures or initiatives.

Funding of schemes/initiatives

Employment measures are funded by the Employment Fund; the leave for youth workers is funded by the Ministry of Education, Children and Youth. The annual budget for the leave for youth workers is € 285 000 (in 2023).

Luxembourg makes use of the EU funding schemes which aim at strengthening the national economy and the labour market (see: European funds).

Quality assurance

There is a quality assurance system for the CAE and CIE. The National Employment Agency and the employer have to fill out an evaluation report six months after the beginning of the contract and eight weeks before the end of the contract. The purpose of this evaluation is to monitor the improvement of specific skills (personal, social, technical, language, ICT) throughout the implementation of the measure.