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The talent shortage affects 72% of employers worldwide, according to ManpowerGroup's 2026 study, a level that remains historically high despite a slight decline from the previous year.
Skills related to artificial intelligence now surpass engineering and traditional IT as the most difficult resources to find.
In Luxembourg, the finance, IT and healthcare sectors continue to be among the most strained, according to official data from the ADEM.
Published on 26 February 2026, the latest edition of ManpowerGroup's Global Talent Shortage Survey, which covers 39,000 employers in 41 countries, paints a nuanced picture of the global labour market. While the overall rate of employers experiencing recruitment difficulties has fallen slightly from 74% to 72%, the talent shortage has reached a historic high, with 72% of employers reporting hiring difficulties. The study shows that the crisis is not abating: it is changing.
For the first time, artificial intelligence skills have surpassed all others to become the most difficult to find globally, surpassing engineering skills and traditional IT skills. In concrete terms, the development of AI models and applications (20%) and general AI literacy (19%) now top the list of in-demand skills.
Engineering, sales and marketing, and industrial manufacturing complete the picture. "The rise of AI skills at the top of the list reflects how quickly the talent landscape is changing," says Jonas Prising, CEO of ManpowerGroup. "Companies are responding with upskilling and more flexible workforce models, recognising that they will need to recruit on potential while developing the AI culture of their employees."
"Companies are responding with upskilling and more flexible workforce models, recognising that they will need to recruit on potential while developing the AI culture of their employees."
Geography continues to strongly determine the intensity of the shortage. Employers in Germany (83%), France (74%) and the United Kingdom (73%) face significant shortages, while the United States (69%) is slightly below the global average. China (48%) stands out as the major market with the least pressure. At the other end of the spectrum, Slovakia (87%), Greece and Japan (84% each) have the highest levels of pressure, while Finland (60%) and Poland (57%) appear comparatively less exposed.
The shortage is also widespread across sectors. The information sector has the highest shortage rate (75%), closely followed by hospitality (74%) and the public sector, health and social services (74%). Professional, scientific and technical services (73%), manufacturing (72%) and finance and insurance (7%) show widespread constraints. This last point is particularly important for an economy such as Luxembourg's, where the financial sector is the central pillar.
The size of organisations also plays a significant role. Large companies with between 1,000 and 4,999 employees have the highest shortage rate, at 75%, which is 11 points higher than very small organisations with fewer than 10 employees, which have a shortage rate of 64%.
Faced with this structural shortage, companies are not standing idly by. 91% of employers surveyed are implementing a range of strategies. Upskilling and reskilling are the most popular strategies, cited by 27% of respondents, followed by greater flexibility in working hours (20%) and location (18%). Higher salaries (19%) and targeting new talent pools (18%) are also major drivers.
This trend towards upskilling is not insignificant. It reflects a growing awareness that, in a context where candidates with AI skills are virtually impossible to find on the external market, training is becoming the solution of choice. Employers are focusing more on internal development, but flexible working hours and locations also feature prominently among the strategies deployed. Retaining existing talent is thus emerging as a strategic priority alongside recruitment.
The study also sends a strong signal that the value of skills in the global labour market is undergoing a profound transformation. Versatile profiles, capable of combining sector expertise with mastery of artificial intelligence tools, are becoming the most sought-after, regardless of the size of the organisation or the sector of activity. This transformation is prompting HR departments to rethink their skills frameworks, salary scales and internal training programmes.
The Grand Duchy is no exception to this global trend. Although Luxembourg is not included individually in the ManpowerGroup barometer data, national sources confirm persistent pressure on many occupations. The 2025 list of occupations facing severe shortages, published in the Official Journal, identifies 22 occupations for which very few candidates are available through ADEM, compared with 24 the previous year.
The sectors concerned largely mirror the trends identified at international level. The occupations under pressure are mainly in the finance, IT, engineering, health and personal care, social work and business support services sectors, such as human resources, accounting, auditing and legal advice. This situation directly undermines the economic foundations of the Grand Duchy, whose competitiveness relies heavily on the availability of highly qualified professionals in these fields.
Eurostat data confirms the scale of the challenge: in 2024, three quarters of Luxembourg employers reported difficulties in recruiting information and communication technology specialists. This particularly high figure illustrates the specific pressure on IT profiles in a country where finance and business services are major consumers of technological talent.
"The talent shortage, the skills gap and our collective efforts to keep people in employment are concerns for the government, businesses and our society."
Aware of the challenge, the Luxembourg government has placed this issue at the top of its agenda. During the presentation of the ADEM's annual report, Minister of Labour Georges Mischo stated: "The talent shortage, the skills gap and our collective efforts to keep people in employment are concerns for the government, businesses and our society. " This statement reflects the systemic nature of the problem in Luxembourg. In January 2026, the Ministries of Economy and Labour jointly announced the launch of two new tools to attract talent in an attempt to address these persistent tensions.
Luxembourg's uniqueness also stems from the structure of its labour market. With nearly 47% of workers being cross-border commuters according to STATEC data, the Grand Duchy structurally relies on a cross-border and international recruitment pool. However, this openness is no longer sufficient to compensate for the growing need for rare profiles, particularly in the fields of artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and compliance, which are fast-growing sectors in a country that aims to remain a leading financial centre in Europe.
For Luxembourg, a small, highly internalised market dependent on highly skilled profiles in strategic sectors such as finance, IT and healthcare, the pressure is all the greater as the available talent pool remains limited. The answer inevitably lies in a combination of policies to attract international talent, massive investment in continuing education and better alignment between employers' needs and the career paths offered to job seekers. This project, long identified by ADEM and the country's HR players, is taking on a new dimension as AI reshuffles the global labour market.
