Have companies planned to reduce executive recruits? At the moment, contracting intentions are maintained, according to the APEC quarterly barometer, but this situation may not last.
In the second quarter of 2025, 9% of companies plan to recruit at least one manager in the next three months, exactly as much as one year. However, dynamics differs according to business size.
Hiring intentions have never been so low in large groups since the beginning of the measures in 2020 (-3 points for a year), according to APEC figures (Association for the Use of Executives). They also retire in very small companies (-2 points) but progress slightly in SMEs (+2 points).
Customs duties scholarly trust
However, morality is not good. After three years of sustained growth, effective executive recruits were severely flexed in 2024 (-8% compared to 2023).
And the trend could continue in 2025 because trust is falling apart. Today, only 67% of the companies are considered insurance of the evolution of their order book, a figure of -5 points in one year and -12 points in two years.
A situation that is greatly explained by the climate of government uncertainty caused by the dissolution of the National Assembly in June 2024 and international geopolitical instability, according to the Association for the Employment of Executives.
The balance of power is reversed
In this context, optimism is not there for executive employees either. Their confidence has gradually decreased for three years: 69% of them trust the economic situation of their business (-2 points compared to March 2024, -6 points compared to March 2023, -10 points compared to March 2022). It is in the industry that trust has fallen more (65 % or 9 points compared to March 2024).
Most of them consider that it would be difficult for them to find a job equivalent to theirs if they came to leave their business or lose their jobs (56 % in March 2025). This proportion increased by 4 points for a year, after two years of stability.
This study was conducted by the Data and Studies (DDE) Management of the APEC. It is based on two investigations carried out from March 2 to 16, 2025:
– An online survey with a sample of 2,000 executives, structured to be representative of managers in the private sector inside and outside employment, in terms of sex, age, activity sector, business size and region.
– A telephone survey with a sample of 1,000 companies (unique and seats) that uses at least one executive, reasoned and then weighted to be representative of private sector companies that use at least one framework.
Source: BFM TV
