FROM OCTOBER 2014’s RECRUITER MAGAZINE

The country’s labour market appears stuck in the past to many but there are signs that recruitment is changing — the sooner, the better say recruiters

UK recruiters looking across the Channel at France might be forgiven for feeling a certain smug satisfaction. While the UK continues its economic recovery, who would be a recruiter in France, where economic growth has stalled, and hiring is in the doldrums?

Tina Ling, managing director of Hays France, says there are many disincentives for employers to take on staff in France. Not only do social costs, which can add 40% to salaries, make hiring people “extremely expensive”, the cost and hassle of getting rid of staff also dampens down recruitment activity. “Rather than take a chance by hiring someone and seeing how it goes, clients are hesitant,” she says.

Hubert Mongon, senior vice president, human resources, McDonald’s France and Southern Europe, says employers in France face three main difficulties. “Firstly, the cost of labour is one of the highest in Europe. Secondly, the introduction of the 35-hour week brings additional challenges, particularly for small businesses. Lastly, the French Employment Code is very detailed and amounts to 3,000 pages in comparison to, for example, Swiss employment law that consists of 30 pages.”

Youth employment

With more than one in five (22.8%) young people between the ages of 15 and 24 unemployed, Mongon says the position of young people is a particular concern. “It is virtually impossible to find a job without experience,” he says, blaming a lack of trust of young people by employers. “Often, young French people have to wait five years before being taken on in a permanent job,” he adds. “Educational qualifications continue to be the key factor in job applications whereas good skills for the job should be the determining factor.”  

François Béharel, chief executive of Groupe Randstad France and an executive board member at Randstad Holding, says that young people and those without qualifications are being left behind. 

Unemployment among older workers is also a concern, he adds. So far, the government’s response, which has “mainly consisted in setting up a ‘responsibility pact’ aimed at cutting back labour costs and corporate tax, and financing thousands of subsidised contracts for the unqualified youth” has had only a limited effect, he says.  

“He talks a good talk, but nothing concrete has been done,” adds Ling of President Hollande’s efforts.  

She warns that the economic situation and high income tax rates could have significant implications for the availability of talent in France. “If things don’t improve and improve rapidly, France risks losing a lot of good candidates to other countries,” she says. 

And there are even bigger problems on the horizon, warns Mongon. Europe’s so-called ‘workforce cliff’ when businesses simply “run out of people to hire” could hit France as early as 2020, he says. This is when McDonald’s predicts that the lack of young people entering the workforce combined with a bulge in the numbers retiring could see the supply of candidates begin to dry up.  

Béharel agrees that problems with the French labour market run deep. “France is quite a conformist country with a lack of flexibility and agility, and so is its labour market. People tend to recruit lookalikes,” he says. 

“Things are certainly changing for the better — though very slowly — but I think the French economy would be better off if we changed our mindset and dared to give their chance to people who got off the beaten tracks in terms of past experience, education and background. Also, we need to better value technical and manual jobs.” 

Amid all the doom and gloom, Richard Yarsley, talent acquisition specialist at biopharmaceutical firm AbbVie in Paris, sees some positives. Yes, the country’s employment laws that give employees job security dampen down recruitment activity. But on the other hand, “there is a much better chance they are going to be loyal and stay with you for a long time”. Many recruiters might argue that in a labour market requiring radical reform this is only scant consolation.

Key indicators

                   France    UK

Population   64.4m   64.1m

GDP growth 0.00% 3.2%
Q2 2014 

Source: INSEE (National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies)

2013                            France       UK

Annual average hours  1,489     1,669
worked per worker

Employment rates (% of workforce in employment) 

Men            67.9%       76.1%

Women       60.4%       66.6%

Age 55-64   45.6%       59.7%

Age 15-24   28.6%       48.8%

Source: OECD

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