Luxembourg has just adopted a new workplace training scheme which aims to anticipate new trends in the labour market.
To support businesses needing to train employees whose roles are impacted by technological, environmental, regulatory or social developments, such as the emergence of artificial intelligence, Luxembourg has legislated for a training programme known as the Skills Plan (Skills-Plang). The law of 19 June 2025 (the Law) was published on 24 June 2025 and enters into force on 28 June 2025.
The Skills Plan has three main objectives:
- Keep employees in employment via skills development (upskilling) and retraining (reskilling).
- Reinforce the overall employability of trained employees and combat unemployment.
- Strengthen the competitiveness and resilience of businesses by anticipating skills requirements.
Businesses targeted
Any business established in Luxembourg that has been operating for at least three years and is not in economic difficulty may benefit from this scheme.
The business must have a desire to respond to structural evolutions in the market, such as environmental transition, automation or certain regulatory changes.
Training covered
The purpose of the training may be either upskilling to better handle existing responsibilities, or reskilling in order to change role. The training must be delivered by an organisation authorised in Luxembourg, subject to exceptions.
Eligible employees
The scheme targets “impacted employees”, defined as any employee:
- with a minimum of 12 months service with the business,
- whose role is affected by structural trends in the market, and
- who needs at least 120 hours of training (reskilling or upskilling).
Procedure to follow
There are a number of stages that must be completed, including the following in particular:
- Eligibility with ADEM: the business must submit a file evidencing the structural impact on the job roles to ADEM (National Employment Agency).
- Authorised consultant: the business has to instruct an authorised consultant to carry out a forward-looking analysis, identify the employees affected and create a training plan.
- Timeframe: the training plan must be drawn up and implemented within 24 months.
Employment fund part-financing rates andlimits
The Law sets various rates and limits for part-financing of the training by the Employment Fund (Fonds pour l'emploi).
- Forward-looking analysis: the Employment Fund covers a proportion of the cost, ranging from 15% for large businesses up to 75% for micro and small businesses.
- Training costs: a fixed rate of 50% applies to all businesses other than large businesses, for which the rate is 40%.
- Salary costs: between 15% (large businesses) and 50% (micro/small businesses) of salary costs are covered.
There are upper limits to the number of days spent on analysis, consultants' daily rates, salary costs and the total cost of training per employee.
Staff delegation involvement
The staff delegation must be informed before the eligibility application is submitted to ADEM.
In businesses with fewer than 150 employees, the delegation is consulted for information purposes. Above that, the delegation has joint decision-making rights in the creation and implementation of the training plan.
Overall, the Law offers an incentive to stabilise employment by responding to rapid market developments, but businesses must comply with numerous administrative requirements.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
