In industry, 2 out of 3 companies have recruitment difficulties, unheard of for 31 years

Having become the new and “second emergency” to be dealt with according to the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, the difficulty in recruiting remains a concern in France. According to INSEE, now in the manufacturing industry, nearly two out of three companies say they are struggling to find the employees they need.

No less than 67% of companies, questioned as part of the latest quarterly business survey, published alongside the business climate, say they are in this case. “A level not observed since 1991”, when INSEE began to question manufacturers on this point. That is for nearly 31 years.

A tense situation in the food industry

Figures much more alarming than those published a week ago by the Banque de France. In its note on the economic situation, the Issuing Institute estimated that 50% of companies in the industry were experiencing recruitment difficulties.

However, the two institutions agree on one observation: recruitment difficulties began to tighten in the winter of 2021. As of the quarterly survey in October, the proportion of companies struggling to recruit approached 60 %, according to public statisticians. It continued, then, to progress over the course of the investigations.

The trend affects most sectors. But the situation is particularly tense in the agri-food and electrical equipment industries, where 70.6% and 73% of business leaders respectively report recruitment difficulties. They seem, by comparison, more reasonable in the automotive and transport equipment sectors, where only one in two companies admits to having difficulty recruiting.

Salaries: bosses more inclined to raises

In any case, the manufacturers questioned are more ready than in the past to open the purse strings a little more. Probably just as much to attract new employees as to respond to the grumbling about purchasing power undermined by inflation.

The balance on the general outlook for the evolution of hourly wages in industry – calculated by making the distinction between business leaders who plan increases and the others – “increases for the sixth consecutive quarter”, explains INSEE . In fact, the balance of opinion, which reached -9.1, has been improving markedly for several quarters. It is even now “at its highest level since 2001”, explains INSEE. Or for 21 years.

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