In response to an RTL interview given by Roland Kuhn, president of the Federation of Luxembourgish Construction Companies and of Civil Engineering, OGBL’s Jean-Luc de Matteis has expressed his belief that the prospect of two simultaneous index cuts has never been realistic.
For that reason, OGBL insisted to maintain the initially scheduled date of the index cut during the tripartite negotiations, which would have helped uphold a certain level of predictability. After all, inflation has an undeniable presence and it is known that an index cut will be made at a certain point, explained de Matteis.
The OGBL spokesman also expressed doubts over Kuhn’s claim that business margins in the construction sector have been “reduced to a minimum”. After all, prices are rising everywhere, including construction prices, which means that another index cut should be affordable without an issue. Furthermore, unions already take the cut into account in their negotiations over collective contracts.
The biggest challenge of the construction sector, according to de Matteis, is a shortage of workers. Despite an expected 30% of staff retiring over the next five years, there is no replacement in sight. The profession itself must be made more attractive, posters are not enough as a recruitment campaign, concluded de Matteis.
