1st quarter 2022 job market: recruitment on the horizon!

While most recruiters have embarked on a frantic race for talent, the job market has never been more dynamic. The figures are rising, with a post-Covid19 catch-up effect. Our experts from the Alphéa Conseil network give us the lowdown!

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Decrease in unemployment

In Q1 2022, metropolitan France saw the number of jobseekers fall by - 5.3%, (- 164,700) compared to the previous quarter and by - 16.5% over one year. For the same period, the number of jobseekers in category B, who were in short reduced activity, rose by +2.1%, while the number of people in long reduced activity remained constant.

This fall in unemployment has been helped by a number of factors, including the easing of sanitary measures and the post-Covid19 catch-up effect, as well as State aid (short-time working measures, aid for the recruitment of alternants...).

Rise in recruitment

In the first quarter of 2022, there were a total of 20,126,300 employees in the private sector. This represents an increase of +0.4% on Q4 2021, with 77,600 positions filled in Q1 2022.

The biggest increase in jobs in the first quarter concerns the non-market tertiary sector with + 1.2% (+ 29,700 jobs) compared to Q4 2021. Themerchant tertiary sector, which is the biggest provider of jobs, is not to be outdone, with + 0.3% (+ 38,900 jobs). Next come construction with +0.4% (+6,000 jobs), industry with +0.1% (+3,100 jobs).

However, this rise in employment is experiencing a slowdown compared with the final months of 2021, particularly in industry, which has still not compensated for the drop in its workforce linked to Covid-19 (- 32,900 jobs compared with the end of 2019). As for the tertiary sector, it continues to grow (+0.3%), but less so than in the last quarter of 2021 (+0.5%).

A sharp decline in the pandemic, combined with better visibility on orders, has encouraged companies to recruit on a more sustainable basis.

Recruitment difficulties persist

But recruitment difficulties persist. According to recruiters, these are due essentially to a lack of candidates (86%) or a mismatch between candidates' profiles and the positions on offer (71%).

The hotel and catering sector, in particular, is facing an unprecedented labor shortage, linked to a lack of attractiveness of the professions, staggered working hours, and excessively low pay. Some establishments are having to close their doors several days a week, due to a lack of staff.

In addition to these recruitment problems, companies are facing supply difficulties, particularly in the manufacture of capital goods and transport equipment (56% of companies).

The other major factor to consider for the months ahead is that of growth, which is zero in the first quarter of 2022. The reasons? Households have consumed less, inflation obliges (4.8%), and the war in Ukraine is reducing raw material flows. Impacts on employment are to be feared in the longer term, unless measures are taken to boost purchasing power.

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