Article for RH INFO - September 2008

The paradox of full-time executive employment


Autum, 2008 is a paradoxical period for the executive employment market:

Growth is slow in Europe and in France in particular. The finanical crisis started by the ‘subprimes’ is far from over, with purchasing power continuing to diminish in spite of governmental efforts. The French morale is falling with psychological consequences that are starting to show in consumption.

However, my position within the employment industry allows me to make several positive reports, information which, in my opinion, has not been sufficiently diffused in the marketplace.
The unemployment rate in all categories of employees has dropped for three years. It went from 9.5% in the first quarter 2006 to 7.6% in the first and second quarters of 2008, which is a drop of nearly 2%.
The executive employment market has never been better than in these last eight years. The unemployment rate for executives is steady at 3.8%, which essentially indicates full employment. The APEC announced that 54% of companies with more than 100 staff recruited at least one executive during the second quarter of 2008 and that 44% intend to recruit during the next quarter. These figures are comparable to those observed in 2007 for the same period and 2007 was a record year for executive employment.
The participation rate of the younger and older workers, even if it is still insufficient, is constantly rising. Diversity promotion in companies is starting to consolidate and the recruitment industry employees in France are being highly motivated by their relevant professional organisations (Syntec Recrutement for recruitment and le Prisme for temporary employment).
The industry sectors which are driving the growth in Europe are in the process of massive recuitment drives in IT, consulting, engineering, BTP, business and personal services and hotel and catering. Even banking and industry is continuing to recruit in France, despite the fact that they are in the midst of huge changes.

These sectors have many positions to fill and are finding recruitment difficult. They are all working to diversify their candidate sources, offering additional opportunities to many youngsters finding it hard to secure employment.
The voluntary mobility of employees, a good indicator of their confidence in the economy, has been stable at a high rate for a year. The average length of employee service in France is still nine years, one of the highest in Europe, showing strong recruitment growth potential.
French demography, Europe’s best, is advantageous in that France’s power in Europe can only increase in the future. It also protects us from accelerated population ageing. In addition, the number of young workers arriving on the market has decreased, which allows a better long term insertion into the workplace, while the post-war ‘baby boom’ generation is retiring, improving the employment prospects for the 35-55 age group.

Our life expectancy is increasing each year. Admittedly, we will have to work several years longer, but equally we will not see a decrease in our retirement period. The older generation consume more and more and are contributing to the growth revival in many French regions, weakened by rural migration during and after the last war. Lastly, global growth remains strong. It is currently concentrated mainly on the Asian continent but does offer certain opportunities to our businesses, which are finding new international outlets for their high value added products or services.

Let’s try to look at the situation more as a glass half full than a glass half empty.
The youth of our country, contrary to general opinion, are full of enthusiasm and ideas. They are very conscious of their future responsibility in our society.
There are many more French entrepreneurs than there were twenty years ago and the creation of new businesses has been steadily rising for the last few years.
All of these points offer excellent prospects to our country and must encourage us to stay optimisitic with regard to the employment market.

RH Info

François Humblot.