France is facing labour shortages, although it reported a low job vacancy rate last year.
Despite having a job vacancy rate of 2.4 per cent in 2023, as reported by Statista, a German online platform that specializes in data gathering and visualization, France is facing labour shortages across various sectors.
The highest number of shortages reported by the European Labour Authority (EURES) were related to construction and building trades, healthcare, IT, engineering, agriculture and manufacturing.
More specifically, based on the 2022 EURES report on shortages and surpluses, the following occupations were reported as the most in-demand jobs in France:
- Accounting and bookkeeping clerks
- Agricultural and industrial machinery mechanics and repairers
- Applications programmers
- Bricklayers and related workers
- Building frame and related trade workers not elsewhere classified
- Business services and administration managers not elsewhere classified
- Cabinet makers and related workers
- Cartographers and surveyors
- Civil engineering technicians
- Concrete placers, concrete finishers and related workers
- Cooks
- Domestic cleaners and helpers
- Earthmoving and related plant operators
- Electrical engineering technicians
- Electronic mechanics and servicers
- Financial and insurance brand managers
- Forestry and related workers
- Healthcare assistants
- Human resource managers
- Information and communication technology operations technicians
- Manufacturing managers
- Mechanical engineering technicians
- Metal processing plant operators
- Mobile farm and forestry plant operators
- Nursing associate professionals
- Pharmaceutical technicians and assistants
- Physiotherapists
- Power production and plant operators
- Printers
- Real estate agents and property managers
- Sewing machine operators
- Developers and analysts not elsewhere classified
- Plant machine operators not elsewhere classified
- Structural metal preparers and erectors
- Tailors, dressmakers, furriers and hatters
- Telecommunications engineers
- Vocational education teachers
- Welders and flame cutters
This implies that foreign workers who belong to any of the above-mentioned professions may have a higher chance of getting employment and a work visa in France.
According to a September report of the French newspaper Le Monde, the French economy relies heavily on immigrant workers, many of whom work in irregular situations without a work permit. At the time, these types of workers had been deemed essential by some members of President Emmanuel Macron’s parliamentary majority.
Types of Workers France Does Not Need
On the other hand, occupations that have surpluses in France, according to the mentioned report, are: authors, building caretakers, cashiers, ticket clerks, gallery, museum and library technicians, general office clerks, graphic and multimedia designers, journalists, artistic and cultural associate professionals, music teachers, PR professionals, shop supervisors, social work associate professionals, transport conductors, travel consultants and clerks, and visual artists.
Do I Need a Visa to Work in France?
Nationals of the European Union, European Economic Area and Switzerland don’t need a visa in order to work in France.
The other countries’ citizens are required to obtain a French Work Visa in order to work in this country. However, before applying for a work visa, among other criteria, they should have a job offer from an employer in France.
