The cost of housing is cited by 65.8% of new residents as the main reason likely to push them to leave Luxembourg.
Luxembourg attracts highly qualified talents, with nearly 80% of first-time arrivals surveyed holding a higher education degree, but international competition is intensifying.
Non-European workers, who are increasingly numerous, present a paradox - less satisfied professionally, they are nevertheless less likely to leave the country, raising questions about the nature of their attachment.
If Luxembourg is a country that attracts talent, retaining it is another matter. This is, in essence, what the final Luxtalent report, published on 15 June 2026 by LISER (Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research), confirms, based on a survey of more than 3,200 new residents who arrived in the Grand Duchy in 2023.
These results complement an initial overview published in March, which already revealed that around 30% of foreign workers leave Luxembourg within the year following their arrival, and half within five years.
In an economy where more than 90% of new labour market entrants were born abroad, this mobility represents a structural risk that the Grand Duchy can no longer afford to ignore.
The figure speaks for itself: 65.8% of respondents cite the cost of housing as the main factor likely to push them to leave the country, far ahead of family distance or professional opportunities abroad. This result places the housing issue at the heart of the debate on Luxembourg's territorial attractiveness, a subject already covered in our analysis of Luxembourg's attractiveness for cross-border workers.
The issue is not, however, simply a matter of salary or standard of living. The Luxtalent report shows that nearly 80% of first-time arrivals surveyed hold a university degree, that three quarters are aged between 25 and 44, and that more than a third work in finance, professional services or information technology. The Grand Duchy is therefore attracting the profiles its economy precisely needs, but it is access to affordable housing that undermines their long-term settlement.
Researchers also observe that new workers are increasingly settling in border regions rather than in Luxembourg itself, a further signal of the tensions on the national property market. This geographical shift illustrates how the cost of living can redistribute migration flows within the Greater Region, with direct consequences for companies based in Luxembourg that are seeking to recruit and retain their workforce.
In its report, Luxtalent also highlights an important shift in context: nearly half of new arrivals had considered another destination before choosing Luxembourg, and for the most sought-after profiles, particularly in finance and technology, the identified competitors are Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands.
The Grand Duchy's attractiveness can therefore no longer be taken for granted, particularly for the most mobile international executives, for whom the choice of a professional destination amounts to a global life decision encompassing housing, taxation, family environment and career prospects.
This intensification of international competition comes against a backdrop of diversifying migration profiles. Among new entrants, the share of non-European nationals continues to grow and now accounts for nearly 40% of immigrants arriving on the labour market.
This evolution is an asset for diversifying the skills available on the local market, but it also calls for an adaptation of integration policies, diploma recognition and support for settling in. The LISER report notes that if other countries were to relax their immigration policies, part of this workforce currently based in Luxembourg could quickly consider leaving.
Researchers highlight a paradox regarding non-European workers: they report being less satisfied with their professional situation and more concerned about their career prospects than Europeans, yet they appear less inclined to leave the country.
LISER advances the hypothesis that this loyalty could be linked to administrative constraints, diploma recognition or residency conditions, rather than to any intrinsic attractiveness of Luxembourg. This finding invites employers and public decision-makers not to confuse constrained attachment with chosen attachment - retaining talent by default of mobility does not offer the same guarantees of engagement and performance as retaining them by conviction.
However, despite the difficulties identified, nearly 62% of first-time arrivals say they want to stay longer than they had initially planned, which reflects the Grand Duchy's genuine capacity for integration. Professional stability, building a social network and gradually settling in the country play a determining role in this positive trend. These elements represent levers on which companies and public authorities can act to strengthen Luxembourg's residential attractiveness over the long term.
In response to these findings, the Luxtalent report sets out five concrete recommendations for public decision-makers and businesses. The first calls for recruitment and attraction policies to be adapted to the realities of each sector, by developing in particular information strategies on opportunities in Luxembourg for SMEs that are less experienced in international recruitment.
The second focuses on the conditions of entry into the labour market: foreign workers whose first job is governed by an open-ended contract appear more likely to follow stable long-term trajectories, which argues for prioritising employment security from the outset.
For its third recommendation, the Luxtalent report emphasises the importance of recognising skills and qualifications, particularly for non-European nationals who often experience a sense of professional downgrading upon arrival.
The final two recommendations address residential and social settlement directly. The report calls on the one hand for strengthening access to affordable housing and improving transparency in the rental market, with a particular focus on young single workers who are especially exposed to early departures. On the other hand, it recommends supporting new arrivals beyond the strictly professional sphere, by facilitating access to administrative information, the development of local networks and social integration during the first years - the most decisive period for stabilising residential trajectories.
The final Luxtalent report sends a clear message to Luxembourg's decision-makers: attracting talent is no longer enough - it is now necessary to create the conditions for their long-term settlement. Housing, long treated as an adjustment variable, is now emerging as a strategic priority, on a par with the recognition of qualifications, support for social integration and the securing of professional pathways from the moment of entry into the labour market.
For human resources professionals and company management teams, this means rethinking their employer value proposition beyond the salary package alone, by integrating concrete support schemes for settling in and assistance with daily life. Luxembourg's attractiveness is now being decided as much in residential neighbourhoods as it is in office buildings, and transforming constrained talent retention into chosen attachment represents the true challenge of the years ahead.
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