Raphael Bohne
Research expert covering professional services
French recruitment industry - statistics & facts
In recent years, the digitalization of B2C and B2B services in France has advanced notably, making it even more crucial for businesses and their workforce to adapt to the new technical demands. Since his election, France's acting president Emmanuel Macron has prioritized the expansion of the French digital services market and as a result, traditional service areas in France have been steadily adopting digital platforms and solutions. Investors’ appetite in the French fintech sector has been strong since 2020, providing the necessary boost for the digital transition of the financial and banking services sector. Meanwhile, the size of the e-commerce sector reached over 190 billion euros in 2021 - a clear sign that the retail sector has also gone digital. Unquestionably, French professionals would not only have to be reskilled but also, actively redirected to the digital services sector. A task that will surely fall in the hands of the leading executive search agencies in the country.
What are French recruiters looking for?
According to a survey carried out in 2021 among representatives of the French startup sector, some of the professional profiles most in demand are sales and marketing professionals, developers, and programmers. As it seems, the French labor market will need to absorb highly qualified professionals and could struggle to fill the ranks of executives, managers, and other technical professionals. Another survey from June 2021 uncovered a positive trend in the hiring plans of French business leaders: More than half of them planned on increasing their staff in the next 12 months. This expansionary trend will challenge recruiters and job candidates alike, as digital skills will be more demanded than in the past. According to hiring executives, the lack of appropriate applicants on the market is the biggest difficulty they face in the recruitment process. In fact, the future of the French economy could depend on how well the recruitment sector reacts to the digital transformation.What are French job applicants looking for?
For French job applicants, the most important factors when applying for a job are the location, the company’s values, and the sector in which the potential employer operates. With the coronavirus pandemic making working from home the norm in many office jobs, French job seekers are also inquiring whether working remotely or following a hybrid working model is possible. A survey carried out in 2021 found that one in three French job seekers were willing to work on a fully remote basis. When it comes to the different channels used for a job search, the vast majority of people actively looking for employment shared that they used the professional networking website LinkedIn or other job boards. The most popular online job boards, Pole employ and Indeed France, generated on average 32 and 17 million monthly visits at the beginning of 2022.
