#01 – In conversation with Arthur Meulman (Jobs.lu)

[Intro – Silicon Luxembourg]
Hello and welcome to this new episode of our series “In Conversation With”. Let us take an interest today in our relationship to work and the meaning it has for us. The world around us is challenging many of our certainties and perspectives. We are therefore entitled to ask ourselves whether our new job has to be necessarily meaningful. To talk about this topic we welcome Arthur Meulman, General Manager of Jobs.lu the first job site in Luxembourg. At the heart of recruitment, he is a keen observer of the major trends of the moment and has conducted a study with his team on the meaning of work. We hope you enjoy this conversation!

[Silicon Luxembourg]
Arthur, thanks a lot for being on the show.

[Arthur]
You’re welcome.

[Silicon Luxembourg]
I’m just going to jump right into the topic, and I’m actually quite excited that we’re speaking today about the question: “Will your new job necessarily have to be meaningful?” That’s definitely a topic a lot of people discuss and have on their minds and had on their mind, especially because of the corona crisis, which brought on a lot of changes to the working world. And, in that regard, we have prepared four short questions. And, I would just like to kick it off with the first one – I would like to ask you: What trends and job postings have you seen on your side in recent months? Have you been able to identify trends among recruiters and job seekers?

[Arthur]
Yes, what we see is more healthcare listings related to the COVID-19 crisis and also more job offers in the household and food sectors. You also see new recruitment and onboarding processes: online interviewing and remote management because people need to stay at home. The managers were not used to have that kind of work, but what we do now is remote management. Those kind of things, online interviews, and remote management are really quite new. But also more home office work and tasks even for new employees is now something that we never had in the past, but now is actually a normal thing.

[Silicon Luxembourg]
Quite interesting! I mean, the crisis has reshuffled the maps of the labor markets and led many people to question their careers. Do you think that we are more concerned about job security or that the crisis has been deep enough to see massive changes of direction in our careers?

[Arthur]
Well, on one hand, a lot of people are scared of losing their job or they even lost it or had some technical unemployment. According to a survey we conducted, 58% said that COVID-19 could have a negative impact on their job. On the other hand, the lockdown and the crisis have caused some people to think about their career and life: “Do I still enjoy what I do?” You see a reorientation. “Is making a lot of money really the most important thing?” This itself leads to people suddenly wanting to work in a different sector.

[Silicon Luxembourg]
So basically you suggest our jobs could be more meaningful? What do you mean by that exactly?

[Arthur]
Yes! A meaningful job or career is one where we feel an authentic connection between the work we do and the broader life purpose beyond the self. It’s a very personal feeling, but it means to find meaning in the job. So you need to know first what ‘meaningful’ means to you. Is this, example given, the social sector or working in healthcare? But what you see now, even at commercial companies, there is a change taking place. They create new positions, such as ‘feel-good managers’ or coaches for well-being at the office.

[Silicon Luxembourg]
Since we just kicked off the year 2021, what are your predictions for this year?

[Arthur]
Well, as long as the current crisis is not fixed, it is hard to predict, of course. Businesses were heavily impacted last year and we may see the consequences happening this year. We thought last year that it would be over after the summer, but now we are still in the middle of it. Although, the vaccines mean that there is light at the end of the tunnel. But still, this year we will continue to feel the effects of COVID-19. There is still a lot of uncertainty and many companies are kept afloat by government support. On the other hand, you see that there is still a need for recruitment by companies and that this is even going to increase again. So we have to be patient, stay healthy and positive, and things will get better soon.

[Silicon Luxembourg]
Great, that’s definitely a positive outlook after a very challenging year 2020. As you said, the COVID-19 crisis is still ongoing, but there is surely light at the end of the tunnel to be seen. Thanks a lot for this interview and sharing these insights with the audience of Silicon Luxembourg. It is great to have gotten the perspective of jobs.lu on the changes and most recent developments on the job market. I’m wishing you all the best for 2021!

[Arthur]
Thank you! You’re welcome. Thank you for your time.

[Outro – Torge]
Thank you for listening. This episode is brought to you by Silicon Luxembourg in partnership with Jobs.lu. Remember to show your love to this conversation on our networks and platforms. See you soon for a new conversation.

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