Risque de délocalisation au Luxembourg selon la Chambre de commerce

“These are alarming signals that we have never seen before,” said Carlo Thelen, director of the Chamber of Commerce. The organization indicated on Wednesday that some large international companies, as well as medium-sized structures and wealth management offices (“family offices”), are considering relocating their headquarters, subsidiary or production site.

Although he refused to name specific companies or provide figures, Carlo Thelen explained that they could make this decision “if the economic environment continues to deteriorate in Luxembourg, or if the competitive position relative to other countries is further weakened”.

Thus, the business climate has been experiencing a “slow continuous decline” for the past 18 months amid rising prices of materials and energy, inflationary pressures, as well as shortages in supply chains, noted the Chamber of Commerce.

As a result, confidence in the economy is declining and only reaches 66%, compared to a confidence rate of 74% in their own companies, according to leaders surveyed by the organization, an “unprecedented gap” between these two indicators. In addition, companies are very concerned about the cost of labor, “weighed down by the triggering of four indexations in 18 months”.

In response to this risk of relocation, the Chamber of Commerce recommends in particular to modulate the indexing system according to three cumulative pillars: a maximum of one indexation per year, an indexation capped from 1.5 times the median monthly salary and decreasing from 4 times the median salary, and an indexation based on a “sustainable basket” (without fossil fuels, alcohol, tobacco, or taxes introduced under the polluter-pays principle). It also proposes to “continue efforts” to digitize and simplify administrative procedures.