Confirming information revealed Thursday evening by Paperjam, labour minister Georges Mischo (CSV) on Friday 20 September made the closure of the Adem agency located in Dudelange official. From 1 December, the 1,548 job seekers will be transferred in part to Luxembourg-Hamm (257 people), and the rest to Esch-Belval (around 1,291), according to their profile. As for the 13 employees of the agency, they will be reassigned to other sites.

“Each job seeker will receive a letter in the coming days,” said the minister, who called the closure “a difficult decision to make.” According to Mischo, the closure of the Dudelange agency, whose rental lease expires on December 31, is explained by premises deemed unsuitable in terms of quality of reception and accessibility and by unsuccessful searches for a backup solution. Adem says it has been thinking about it for three years, since 2021, “in close consultation with the city of Dudelange.”

“No further closures” in sight

The municipality had notably proposed new premises as part of the future NeiSchmelz district, but the prospect is distant and probably wouldn’t be possible before 2030. Adem does not rule out the idea of ​​returning to Dudelange one day, “but it will not be right away. We have no plans to repatriate customers and agents in the short term,” indicated its director, Isabelle Schlesser.

“We also have no plans to close any more branches,” she said, adding: “The biggest focus in the future will be on the big branches, because that’s where we offer the widest range of services. Customers’ needs are less about where they live and more about their journey.”

These three agencies are Luxembourg (111 agents, 11,440 job seekers monitored), Esch (187 agents, 8,656 job seekers registered) and Diekirch (47 agents, 3,022 job seekers).

“Contradictory”

“This is not a good day, neither for the city of Dudelange, nor for the nearly 1,600 job seekers in Dudelange, Bettembourg, Roeser and Frisange,” reacted the mayor of Dudelange, Dan Biancalana (LSAP). “A state service is closing its doors in the fourth largest city in the country while, in recent years, efforts have been made towards decentralisation. At the same time, other ministries are jostling to get services in Dudelange. It’s contradictory.”

“The ministry of labour and Adem had asked us to find other premises. We played our role as intermediary by providing addresses. Subsequently, we did not receive any feedback on the reasons why the premises could not be taken into consideration,” said the mayor.

Finally, Biancalana was surprised by the method used by the labour ministry. “I only received a call from the minister on Thursday evening. As the city of Dudelange, we had sent an initial letter in mid-April and the municipal council had voted on a motion by a majority--only the CSV had not voted for it. These two documents, so far, have received neither a response nor even an acknowledgement of receipt. Communicating the day before is neither correct nor respectful.”

This article was originally published in French.

Updated 20 September with additional information.