2022 was a record year for executive recruitment in France. ” For the first time, we have crossed the symbolic milestone of 300,000 executive recruitments in France “, comments Pascale Padilla, operational manager within Apec Occitanie. Among the 308,000 executive recruitments made, 17,350 concerned Occitania, again a record, according to the annual study of the Association for the Employment of Executives (Apec) unveiled this Tuesday, April 4. The fears of the middle of last year about the outbreak of war in Ukraine are therefore quite far away. ” We finally had a moderate impact from this conflict. There are sectoral impacts but not on the overall dynamics of executive employment “, specifies Corinne Saurat, business relations consultant within the regional branch of the organization.
Finally, a few months later, enthusiasm is in order following this survey conducted jointly with the BVA institute among 700 regional companies. “ In comparison with the pre-crisis year, i.e. 2019, we have a number of executive recruitments of more than +11% in 2022 “adds Corinne Saurat. At the end of 2022, Occitania had nearly 290,000 executives on its territory.
A quota especially revised upwards thanks to the dynamics of the digital professions. In Occitania, just 4,500 ads posted on the Apec website in 2022 concerned functions around “IT development”. It should also be noted that similar functions also contributed, namely “IT infrastructure and systems” (1,700) and management of “IT projects” (1,600) according to data published by Apec today.
“The return of aeronautics”
As for the year 2023, it should be the year of stability for the dynamic around the employment of executives. The association is once again expecting more than 17,000 recruitments for the current year, counting permanent and fixed-term contracts for more than one year of contract. Such a level would place it in fourth position behind Ile-de-France, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Paca.
However, a regional specificity appears in hiring prospects, sector by sector. Of the 17,000 recruitments announced, 21% should concern the industry, against 13% at the national level. Over the year 2022, the industry had sucked up only 13% of hires in Occitania. At the same time, business services will occupy 67% of positions in Occitania against 72% nationally. Function by function, it is “studies and R&D” (21%), as well as “IT” (18%) which will maintain the regional dynamic in 2023.
“It is clearly the return of aeronautics to the job market for executives. In other regional territories, industry is marking time, but in our case it is really aeronautics that is showing its name”, observes Pascale Padilla.
To understand this, just keep in mind that the aeronautics industry is engaged in a quest for decarbonization which requires a lot of R&D efforts, but not only.
An opportunity for the over 55s?
Although dynamic and a provider of many professional opportunities, the executive market in Occitania and in France is also in tension with a quantity of available profiles that is lower than market needs. According to Apec Occitanie, eight out of ten companies even anticipated recruitment difficulties in the first quarter of 2023. As a direct consequence, the average duration of a recruitment fell from nine weeks in 2019 to 11 weeks in 2021, and this data on the year 2022 expected in a few months should undoubtedly accentuate this trend. This context could particularly benefit experienced executives.
“As in any tight job market, this will benefit extreme profiles, in other words young graduates and seniors over 55. It’s hard to say if seniors over 55 will be the big winners of this period, but one thing is certain, they won’t come out the losers. », Analyzes Pascale Padilla, operational manager within Apec Occitanie.
In 2022, 16% of executives supported in their job search were seniors according to a count by the regional branch. In the first quarter of 2023, this figure climbs to 19%. ” The majority of these job seekers are people who have been looking for a job for more than 12 months “adds Corinne Saurat. In addition, 25% of these experienced profiles would be ready to make an effort on their remuneration on their salary to be hired, with the bonus for companies of a pledge of loyalty over time much more interesting than young executives, again according to data. of the Apec. According to the latter’s new annual survey, 22% of executive recruitments in Occitania for 2023 should concern profiles with more than 10 years of experience. ” The approach of companies around the employment of seniors is changing », assure Pascal Padilla.