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Talent retention is becoming a central issue in Luxembourg, with 59% of companies expecting greater difficulties in 2026, according to Morgan Philips.
The exit interview remains largely underused by Luxembourg HR departments, even though it helps identify the real causes of turnover, which are often linked to company culture, pay or a lack of career prospects.
When well conducted, this tool turns a departure into an opportunity for continuous improvement and feeds a broader retention and employer branding strategy.
Recruiting is still possible in Luxembourg, but keeping employees is an increasingly difficult challenge. According to a Morgan Philips survey conducted at the end of February 2026 among more than 300 active decision-makers in the Grand Duchy, 78% of companies identify the cost of living as the main obstacle to talent retention, far ahead of the other factors mentioned, as reported by Paperjam.
In this context, the exit interview, often seen as a simple box to tick before the final settlement, deserves to be rethought as a genuine HR management tool.
In a labour market as tight as Luxembourg's, where hiring often means replacing staff rather than creating new positions, HR teams devote most of their energy to attracting new profiles. The exit interview then takes a back seat, relegated to an informal chat with the manager or a simple administrative document linked to the employment certificate.
Yet the continued deterioration in the quality of working life in Luxembourg should encourage companies to better understand the reasons for departures. According to the latest Quality of Work Index published by the Chamber of Employees (CSL) in collaboration with the University of Luxembourg, the overall quality of work index fell to 53.4 points in 2025, its lowest level since 2014, as highlighted by The Luxembourg Chronicle. The study points to a rise in psychosocial risks and burn-out, and a weakening of access to positive resources such as autonomy, feedback and continuing training, all factors that weigh directly on the decision to leave an employer.
Business Mentoring Luxembourg (BML), which has run a series of collaborative workshops with entrepreneurs and employers in the Grand Duchy, confirms this observation. According to Claude Faber, the association's president, "training provision is a good complement so that companies do not have to constantly play on salary or job titles," he recalls in an article published by Paperjam. In other words, retention levers exist, but companies still need to know which ones to activate, something that only a structured dialogue with departing employees can truly identify.
Unlike an annual review, the exit interview has a rare advantage in human resources: candour. The departing employee has nothing left to lose or negotiate, which often makes them the most reliable source of information on how the company really works, its managerial shortcomings or its blind spots in internal culture.
The results of the Morgan Philips study illustrate what these interviews could bring to light if companies used them systematically. Company culture is cited by 62% of Luxembourg organisations as a key retention factor, ahead of flexibility or working conditions. This is precisely what a departing employee is best placed to assess from the inside, far from institutional messaging.
Barbara Stroup, manager at Business Mentoring Luxembourg, stresses the need for ongoing dialogue within Luxembourg companies. "The feedback culture is much more established today than it was in the past in production sectors where there is a large workforce," she observes. In her view, this feedback directly helps limit turnover when it is embedded in everyday management, and it finds a natural extension in a structured exit interview rather than an improvised one.
To turn this exercise into a genuine HR tool, several principles apply. The interview should be conducted by a neutral person, ideally from outside the employee's immediate team, to ensure a climate of trust conducive to sincere exchanges. It should also follow a standardised framework covering the initial reasons for joining, a review of the employee's career path, the quality of management, workload, pay and the specific reasons for leaving, so that feedback can be compared over time.
The Luxembourg context, marked by a high proportion of cross-border workers and a highly internationalised job market, adds a further dimension to consider. The LUXTALENT report, published by the Ministry of the Economy in collaboration with the General Inspectorate of Social Security (IGSS), analyses the dynamics of attracting and retaining foreign talent in Luxembourg over the period 2002-2024, recalling that keeping skills in the country is a priority set out in the coalition agreement. A well-designed exit interview should therefore also explore reasons related to geographical mobility, cross-border remote working or housing costs, themes specific to the Grand Duchy's market.
Finally, the value of the exit interview lies not only in holding it, but in using the data collected. Without centralisation and periodic analysis of the feedback, the exercise remains sterile. HR departments would benefit from consolidating this information quarterly or annually, in order to identify recurring trends by department, by manager or by type of profile, and thus feed a retention strategy based on concrete data rather than impressions.
The exit interview will never replace an ambitious HR policy, but it is a valuable and inexpensive complement to one. In a Luxembourg market where talent retention is, according to Morgan Philips, a challenge that 59% of companies expect to intensify in 2026, ignoring the voice of departing employees means going without a free diagnosis of one's own organisational weaknesses.
Companies that genuinely structure this tool, by cross-referencing the feedback with their quality-of-working-life indicators and their continuous feedback practices, turn a moment often perceived as negative into a powerful lever for continuous improvement and, ultimately, for retention.
What is an exit interview and what is it for?
An exit interview is a conversation between an employee leaving the company and an HR representative or a neutral manager. It aims to understand the real reasons for the departure and to identify ways for the organisation to improve.
Who should conduct the exit interview in a company?
Ideally, someone outside the employee's immediate team, often from human resources, to ensure a climate of trust and frank, usable feedback.
Is the exit interview mandatory in Luxembourg?
No, there is no legal obligation to hold this interview in Luxembourg. It is an HR best practice, increasingly recommended in a context of pressure on talent retention.
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