Many companies are still struggling to find candidates for their open positions. Although the number of job vacancies* continues to fall slightly in France, it remains high. In the second quarter, 355,600 positions remained vacant, 4% less than in the first quarter, says Dares. Before that, job offers had already fallen 5% in the first quarter compared to the end of last year.
So-called “vacant” positions, or “positions to be filled”, are defined by Dares as “vacant, newly created or vacant positions or still filled and about to become vacant, for which active steps are taken to find the right candidate” .
65% more vacancies compared to 2019
Despite this slow decline, the number of vacancies in France is still much higher than before the health crisis. The number of vacant jobs increased by 65% compared to the last quarter of 2019. In construction, this figure increased by 79%, while it gained 76% in industry and 71% in the commercial sector. In the fourth quarter of 2022, the number of vacant positions even reached an all-time high of 2.48%.
If we relate these vacant positions to total jobs, they represented 2.2% in the second quarter of 2023. For comparison, this vacancy rate reached 1.45% in the fourth quarter of 2019.
But if this structural increase in the vacancy rate accelerated under the effect of the pandemic, it started much earlier. Although it exceeds 2% in 2023, the vacancy rate reached 0.6% in 2013 and around 0.4% in 2003.
*The data covers the establishments of companies with 10 or more employees in the private sector, located in metropolitan France and in the overseas departments-regions (Drom) except Mayotte. Agriculture, temporary work, individual employers and employment in the public sector are excluded from the scope.
Source: BFM TV
