Tired, taxed more for some and faced with difficult journeys, border workers are pulling on the rope. And it could end up breaking up. Some are starting to leave the country. In France, more and more of them are giving in to “fatigue” that has become too great.
Cost of travel, long journeys, insufficient salaries to compensate for the loss of time in one’s private life… Is it still worth it to cross the border? This is one of the questions that must worry the Luxembourg state the most.
Faced with the accumulating uncertainties and the inconveniences of daily life, more and more cross-border workers testify to a “fatigue” very important. This is the observation made by Julien Dauer, director of Frontaliers Grand Est.
The association, which has just celebrated its 30th anniversary, helps cross-border workers free of charge who have questions about Luxembourg, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland. She is well placed to see that border crossers are sticking their tongues out.
Also read – Working in Luxembourg: towards a fed-up of French cross-border workers?
“For the public close to the border, Luxembourg is inevitable. But the further south you go from Thionville, the more tired you become.” analysis Julien Duration. “There is a real fatigue, a feeling of weariness, this “still us” in the face of the hard blows that accumulate.”The tax increase expected in 2025 for many French cross-border workers, and the controversy over their unemployment benefits, have worn down their will a little more.
With fatigue comes a real question about the benefit of cross-border work. Particularly in unskilled professions. Even though the latter will no longer be taxable in 2025. “For senior management, and other qualified professions, there will always be an interest. But for others, counting the cost of travel, working time, the difference in salary, many say “Is it worth it?”. Today, restaurateurs in the French border area are able to bring back former Luxembourg employees by offering them a better balance between their private and personal lives.”
This balance has been brought into focus by the coronavirus epidemic. Four years later, more workers are taking the plunge. “It is said that Covid has changed priorities, and today, these questions have come to fruition. We move from words to actions“ remarks Julien Dauer.
Also read – These sectors where the minimum wage is the norm in Luxembourg
Yes, the attractiveness of Luxembourg is in danger
Added to this are concerns about retirement and uncertainty about unemployment on the French side. “What will be at stake is the attractiveness of Luxembourg” predicts the director of Borderiers Grand Est.
A tipping point is looming for early cross-border workers, whose careers are coming to an end. “The old-timers say that they have “no choice” to end their career in Luxembourg, but they also say “I would not make the same career choices again”. And among the young people, there is no longer any taboo on employment in Luxembourg, which is also envisaged in the short term” and no longer as an opportunity not to be missed. For this generation which does not put everything on the salary, work in France is no longer a repellent.
For Luxembourg, it is time to worry. Because the problems of French cross-border workers also apply to Belgians and Germans… whose numbers are already stagnating.
If it no longer attracts enough cross-border workers, Luxembourg will have difficulties. Its labor market is greedy, and the country’s residents alone are not enough to support it.
For Julien Dauer, Luxembourg and its neighbors have every interest in cooperating more. “It is not a question of reacting piecemeal, but of having a real vision on the future of cross-border work.”
Also read – French cross-border workers: What you need to know to quit your job in Luxembourg
