Foreign companies employ more than 2 million people in France according to INSEE

The approximately 17,000 companies under foreign control employed 2.1 million people in France in 2020, according to data published Thursday by INSEE.

While the government regularly congratulates itself on attracting foreign investment to France, US companies are the top foreign providers of jobs in France, with 461,600 jobs.

Germany (341,500) and Switzerland (249,600) then climbed to the podium, ahead of a group of four countries whose companies employ more than 100,000 people (in order: United Kingdom, Netherlands, Belgium and Japan), specifies the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies.

in ITS

Nearly one in two foreign-controlled jobs (46%) is offered in medium-sized companies (250 to 4,999 salaried employees), and 38% in large companies (5,000 employees and more).

A large third of the jobs offered in France by foreign companies are in the industrial sector (34.1%), which is ahead of commerce (27.5%) and administrative and business support services (17.7%). %).

“On the contrary, only 1% of jobs on French soil in companies under foreign control are in the construction sector,” says INSEE.

In total, “12% of French jobs in the commercial sector (excluding the agricultural and financial sectors, editor’s note) are under foreign control.”

In terms of wages, these jobs are more expensive for foreign companies than for their French competitors.

Industrial sector then trade

“At 60,000 euros, the average per capita wage costs in France are higher in these companies than in multinationals under French control (55,500 euros)”, particularly in the trade sector, compares INSEE.

“Foreign groups are relatively more present in sectors where personnel costs per employee are higher,” the Institute told AFP to justify this differential.

France prides itself on being the most attractive country in Europe for foreign investors by number of projects, 1,222 in 2021, according to the EY firm’s barometer.

But projects hosted by France are smaller on average, with 38 jobs created, compared to 45 in Germany and 68 in the UK.

And according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad), during the period 2015-2020, French companies invested more abroad than foreign companies in France.