The Observatoire interrégional du marché de l’emploi has analysed employment trends in the manufacturing industry sector over the ten-year period between 2012 and 2022, and its findings are clear. The number of employees in this sector has fallen by almost 6%, a decrease of 43,000 jobs. It’s a trend that contrasts with the European average, since over the same period, the number of employees rose by 3.6% at the EU level.

But not all regions are in the same boat, and Luxembourg is faring slightly better than its neighbours in the Greater Region. Over this reference period, the grand duchy recorded a 2.3% increase in its workforce, i.e., around 800 more employees.

However, it is Lorraine that could be considered the most industrial of the Greater Region areas. Although the French border region has lost 16,100 jobs (-14.4%), the manufacturing industry remains over-represented here compared with the rest of France. For example, 12.4% of employees in Lorraine work in this sector (compared with 9.5% of employees in France as a whole).

In Germany, Saarland--like Lorraine--is also one of the regions to have recorded the most losses, with 17,200 fewer employees, a fall of 15.9%.

According to the Interregional Employment Observatory, one of the phenomena explaining these developments is linked to the covid pandemic. “In 2020, the lockdown and short-time working measures aimed at curbing the spread of the covid-19 pandemic led to the slowing down or even suspension of industrial production lines. This disorganisation of global supply chains led to a further acceleration in the decline of the manufacturing sector,” it explains in its analysis. The observatory adds that “by 2022, the pre-health crisis level had still not been recovered, and the recent economic situation does not point to an upward trend in manufacturing either.” As for the disparities between countries, these are largely linked to the labour strategies adopted by the territories that make up the Greater Region.

The Greater Region is in fact experiencing the same trend as Europe overall. Looking at more recent figures, industrial production at EU level fell by 4.4% between 2023 and 2024. It fell by 1.5% in France and 1.8% in Germany, but rose slightly in Luxembourg and Belgium (+1.8% and +0.8% respectively). “Many sectors of industry are suffering from foreign competition--particularly from China and the United States, where the industrial sector is heavily subsidised--and from high energy prices, which is leading to a decline in the competitiveness of European industry,” explains the Interregional Employment Observatory.

In 2023, the Greater Region had 652,064 employees in the manufacturing industry, with the majority employed in the metallurgy branch. One in two employees in this sector worked in Rhineland-Palatinate, ahead of Wallonia (18.8%). Next comes Lorraine, with an industrial share of 14.8% in the Greater Region, followed by Saarland with a share of 13.5%. The remaining 4.9% corresponds to manufacturing jobs in Luxembourg.

Here again, depending on the region, the predominance of certain branches varies. In Saarland, the automotive and metal industries account for 50% of total industrial employment. In Luxembourg, metalworking leads the way (25.1% of industrial employees), closely followed by the rubber, plastics and glass industries.

At the opening of the European Industry Summit in February, “the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, presented a package of measures aimed at reducing energy costs and promoting ‘green’ technologies (or ‘cleantech’)--i.e., companies that produce batteries, wind turbines or solar modules. This package of measures also provides for the simplification of the law on supply chains to relieve a majority of companies,” points out the observatory.

For the future, the regions are not all adopting the same strategies. Lorraine and Saarland, for example, are focussing on the development of renewable energies, in particular to ensure the continuity of their industrial activities. According to the Interregional Employment Observatory, this “could further increase the need for skilled labour in these areas in the coming years.”

This article was originally published in .