Chamber of Commerce
On Wednesday, 5 February 2020, the Chamber of Commerce held its plenary assembly at the Ecole d'Hôtellerie et de Tourisme du Luxembourg (EHTL). The elected members prepared the Chamber of Commerce’s 2020 roadmap on the following priorities: the climate pact, qualitative growth, digitalisation, Europe in the Brexit follow-up, and the training and recruitment needs of businesses.
Reflecting the theme of recruitment, it has become a tradition for the Chamber of Commerce to organise one of its annual plenary assemblies in a school to take stock of the challenges of education and vocational training in Luxembourg.
The Chamber of Commerce indeed works towards quality education and vocational training that is adapted to the growing demands of a quickly changing labour market, while remaining committed to bringing the business world and the scholastic world closer together.
To deal with the lack of qualified manpower and talent in Luxembourg, the Chamber of Commerce has started several initiatives, for example in the field of apprenticeships. The winwin campaign informs young people of the different possibilities offered by apprenticeships and encourages companies to engage in work-linked training that facilitates recruitment and integration processes. It also supports various ventures coming directly from certain sectors, such as the Dreamjobs or Hello Future campaigns, which aim to raise awareness among young people about professions in the hotel and catering sector and industry. In addition, to support companies in their endeavors in capacity building, the Chamber of Commerce offers quality continuing vocational training to meet the needs of the market through its House of Training and ISEC training organisations.
Bringing the scholastic world closer to the world of economics
To go further, the Chamber of Commerce has been encouraging the government to broaden the scope of work-linked training (company/school) by introducing several vocational training certificates (Brevet de Technicien Supérieur, BTS). Indeed, in terms of training, close and systematic collaboration with companies is, according to the Chamber of Commerce, the way forward to ensure an optimal match between the needs of companies and the programmes taught, and thus to optimise the chances of young people's professional integration into the current labour market.
Convinced that the implementation of strong school-business relationships is the responsibility of everyone – students, parents, teachers, business leaders, economic players – the Chamber of Commerce regularly organises, through its school-business relations programme (Relations Ecole-Entreprises, REE), workshops for secondary school students with the objective of presenting young people with major economic concepts and raising their awareness of entrepreneurship. The workshops are based on two themes and are called, respectively: The Luxembourg economy – Did you know? And: Entrepreneurship – Ready for business?
Training, the key to professional success
The Chamber of Commerce is also a key player in the field of initial and continuing vocational training. It registered almost 1,000 new apprenticeship contracts at the start of the 2018/2019 school year, and more than 5,000 tutors have enrolled in the training course for company tutors since its launch in 2010. Talent check, a voluntary skills test and important tool for young apprenticeship candidates and employers, has, since its launch in 2016, attracted no fewer than 4,000 participants.
For continuing vocational training, the House of Training presented a very positive balance sheet for the year 2019, with 25,000 people registered for the 850 training courses on offer, including specific training created in partnership with the national Horesca federation and the École d'Hôtellerie et de Tourisme du Luxembourg (EHTL). Its new 2020 catalogue goes even further with the implementation of a real ecosystem based on the concept of Lifelong Learning, which brings together all stakeholders, companies, federations, professional associations, clients, learners, expert trainers and academic partners. The House of Training has adapted its offer according to a professional profile approach (63 profiles in 20 training areas). For each of them, blocks of key skills and training paths have been defined, allowing skills to be acquired progressively over time. Through this restructuring of its offer, the House of Training intends to facilitate the research and steps taken by employers wanting to develop the skills of their managers and employees.
In order to strengthen the professional training offer and allow for life-long career progression, the Chamber of Commerce has strengthened its partnerships in continuing professional training leading to a diploma with the launch of new professional masters courses – organised by ISEC – allowing interested employees to follow a university course part time, which allows them to study and work in parallel. These university courses – one Bachelor’s and seven Master's degrees – are offered in collaboration with renowned international academic partners.
