Luxembourg labour market 2025: high wages, growing female employment and new challenges

By the first of May 2025, the STATEC statistics office has presented a detailed snapshot of the situation on the labour market in the Grand Duchy. The picture is complex and contrasting: high earnings and prosperity are combined with new signs of economic slowdown.

At the end of 2024, 489,000 people were employed in Luxembourg, almost half of whom (47%) were cross-border workers, primarily from France (126,000). Only one in four employees has Luxembourg nationality, underlining the country's unique dependence on international labour.

Luxembourg had the second highest median wage in the EU at €24 per hour, behind only Denmark. However, after adjusting for purchasing power, the country fell to third place. Most notably, Luxembourg was the rarest exception in Europe: here, women earn more than men on average. The gender pay gap is -0.9% in favour of women, while the EU average remains at +12%.

The overall employment rate fell to 69.5 per cent in 2024 (from 70.3 per cent in 2023), mainly due to a decline in male employment. Female employment, on the other hand, continued to grow to 67%, demonstrating a shift in traditional labour patterns.

Almost a quarter of all workers in Luxembourg work on Sundays: 16.4% occasionally and 8.2% regularly. This is higher than the EU average, but lower than in France.

Despite the high level of income, about 14% of workers receive "low wages" (less than €16 per hour), which makes the problem of social differentiation relevant. Women are more often in the low-income group - 18.4 per cent compared to 11.2 per cent of men.

As in other countries, the level of education has a direct impact on income: among people without a high school diploma, low pay is found in 37.1 per cent of cases, while among those with a higher education it is found in only 1.9 per cent.

Health status remains a critical factor: 80 per cent of adults rate their health as good, and they have the highest employment rate. Health limitations significantly reduce the chances of employment.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, remote working has established itself as a sustainable practice: in 2023, 35.1% of workers are partially or fully remote. However, it remains a privilege for highly skilled employees: 51% among white-collar workers versus only 2-3% among blue-collar workers.

In a particularly worrying signal, employment growth has slowed to 1 per cent per annum at the end of 2024 (and to 0.5 per cent excluding the public sector) - a level comparable to the drop at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. This signals the first signs of labour market tightness amid global economic change.