| @ josquius: Well, cheap labour forces have always been an important part throughout Luxembourg´s industrial history. In the 1960s there were several coincidental factors. The previously prevalent labour forces, namely Germans and Italians, returned to their native countries, as the economies there were recovering. Furthermore, there was a boom in the financial services sector in Luxembourg, that made many native Luxembourgians turn away from industrial work. And as Portuguese economy was pretty weak back then (remember the dictatorship which lasted till the mid-70s!), there was a first huge wave of immigrants to Luxembourg. Additionally, immigration was favoured by Luxembourg´s slack immigration policy and the linguistic situation there (with Portuguese being quite close to French). |