The challenges of permanent recruitment in 2025: Analysis and solutions

In a rapidly changing employment market, the "Besoins en Main d'Œuvre" (BMO) 2025 survey reveals a significant underlying trend: while the overall volume of recruitment is down by 12.5% compared to 2024, the share of open-ended contracts in projected hiring is up significantly (+5.5 points) to 43.8%. This trend reflects a profound transformation in the HR strategies of French companies, now favoring the stability and loyalty of talent in the face of an uncertain economic context.

"This upward trend in permanent contracts against a backdrop of an overall slowdown in recruitment is not a contradiction, but rather a strategic adjustment," explains one Human Resources Director. "Companies are looking to secure their key skills in an uncertain economic environment, even if it means reducing the overall volume of hiring."

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A revealing paradox: fewer hires but more permanent contracts

The overall drop in recruitment projects (2.43 million in 2025 versus almost 2.8 million in 2024) is accompanied by an increase in the proportion of permanent contracts. This paradoxical trend can be explained by several factors:

1. Securing strategic skills: in the face of persistent recruitment difficulties (50.1% of projects deemed difficult), companies are looking to stabilize their key workforce.
   

2. The changing balance of power: the decrease in the overall volume of hiring mechanically reduces the tension on certain positions, allowing employers to offer more permanent contracts to attract the best profiles.

3. Anticipating future needs: companies are taking a more forward-looking view of their skills needs, favoring investment in human capital over the long term.

Tensioned sectors: where are the difficulties concentrated?

The sectoral analysis of difficult recruitment on permanent contracts highlights several areas of persistent tension, despite the general drop in hiring volume:

Industry (-16.5%)

While the industrial sector is experiencing a sharp drop in recruitment plans, qualified open-ended positions r are particularly difficult to fill. Companies such as Schneider Electric and Saint-Gobain report recurring difficulties in attracting specialized technical profiles (industrial maintenance, automation engineers, etc.) despite upgraded salary packages.

"Even though we offer attractive salary packages and career development prospects, we're still struggling to recruit certain specialized technical profiles," confides a Recruitment Manager. "The lack of technical skills in the market is forcing us to completely rethink our talent acquisition strategy."

Construction (-22%)

The construction sector, heavily impacted by the real estate crisis, nevertheless maintains critical CDI needs for certain trades. Groups such as Bouygues Construction or Eiffage are struggling to recruit conducteurs de travaux or chefs de chantier qualifiés, essential to the management of their large-scale projects.

Corporate services (-15.2%)

Despite the overall market contraction, companies like Capgemini or Sopra Steria continue to actively seek IT and digital profiles on permanent contracts, with difficulty rates often exceeding 70% for specialized developers or cybersecurity experts.

Innovative strategies to overcome obstacles

Faced with these challenges, the most successful companies are deploying innovative approaches:

1. The "augmented"

Organizations that stand out are no longer content with conventional HR communications, but are developing a differentiating employer value proposition. The company Decathlon, for example, has considerably boosted its attractiveness by promoting its internal mobility policy and environmental commitment, reducing its recruitment difficulties for permanent technical positions by 30%.

"We have completely rethought our approach to employer branding in 2024," reveals an HR Manager. "Beyond the classic benefits, we now highlight our societal and environmental impact, as well as the opportunities for international development. The results are spectacular: we've cut our recruitment times for permanent technical positions by a third."

2. Tailor-made integration paths

Companies like Michelin or L'Oréal have thoroughly overhauled their onboarding processes, creating personalized pathways that secure new employees' first few weeks and significantly reduce early turnover, often a problem in shortage positions.

3. The "skills first"

The skills revolution is transforming recruitment practices. Companies such as Orange or La Poste have adopted selection methods based primarily on behavioral and technical skills rather than diplomas or linear career paths, thus broadening their pool of potential candidates.

4. Corporate academies

Faced with a lack of technical skills (cited by 52% of recruiters), in-house training is becoming strategic. Groups such as LVMH (with its Institut des Métiers d'Excellence) or Thales develop their own training schemes, guaranteeing a perfect match between the skills developed and their specific needs.

"Our in-house academy has become a real competitive advantage," says CEO Alexandre Dubois. "Instead of competing in a tight market for rare skills, we now prefer to identify potential employees and train them to our standards. Not only does this solve our recruitment problem, it also boosts our retention rate."

Towards a more integrated approach to recruitment

In-depth analysis of the BMO 2025 survey reveals that high-performing companies in permanent recruitment adopt a systemic vision that goes beyond simply acquiring talent. They closely articulate:

• Business strategy and HR strategy : precisely aligning their skills needs with their medium-term strategic orientations
• Internal mobility policy : by promoting career development as a means of building loyalty
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• Continuing education : by investing massively in skills development
  
  

This integrated approach not only reduces recruitment difficulties, but also optimizes team commitment and performance over time.

"The companies that are most successful at permanent recruitment are those that have stopped thinking in silos," observes Claire, Talent Acquisition Director.

"At our company, recruitment is no longer a matter for HR alone, but a strategic concern that involves operational staff at all levels. This cross-functional vision enables us to anticipate our needs and prepare our talent pools well in advance."

It's up to you to turn constraints into opportunities

Faced with the challenges highlighted by the'BMO 2025 survey, companies can no longer be content with conventional approaches to recruitment. At Alphéa Conseil, we support organizations in this transformation by offering a unique methodology that integrates predictive needs analysis, redesign of acquisition processes and tailor-made skills development strategies. Our expert consultants, backed by in-depth sector-specific experience, help you deploy pragmatic and innovative solutions to overcome permanent recruitment difficulties and transform your HR constraints into genuine performance levers. In an ever-changing market, choose a strategic partner who understands the specific challenges of your sector and supports you in building an HR strategy aligned with your business objectives.

To benefit from a personalized diagnosis of your CDI recruitment strategy or explore our support solutions, contact our experts