A phenomenon accentuated by the health crisis and the war in Ukraine. As such, the issue of shortage occupations represents an important focus of public employment and training policies. The public interest group Challenge professions, the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (Insee) and the Regional Directorate for the Economy, Employment, Labor and Solidarity (Drieets) of Ile-de-France -France devoted a study to it.
In Île-de-France, 1.7 million workers work in jobs presenting recruitment difficulties, ie a third of regional employment. The trades concerned, more or less the same as at the national level, are divided into four major groups: services meeting local needs, construction and industrial worker trades, more skilled trades in the same sectors and the professions of services engineer and manager with a strong technical background. This study also shows that these difficulties in recruiting do not encourage employers to hire in a wider geographical area.
Four major business groups
Among the 66 trades studied by Challenge trades, Insee and Drieets Île-de-France, four major groups emerge. The first includes trades related to the needs for local goods and services (24% of the workforce in trades under high pressure in Île-de-France). Since the turnover of the workforce is high, the intensity of hiring is high and the working conditions restrictive. They include plumbers, heating engineers, butchers, hairdressers, paramedical professionals, home helpers and housewives. Real estate agents are also part of this group. These professions are mainly exercised by women (56%), with an over-representation of workers under 25 and over 55, but also immigrants. Precariousness (family and social) is also present.
A second set includes trades for workers identified in the fields of mechanics, metalworking and process industries (engine driver, turner-miller, welder, car bodybuilder and road driver). This group brings together a little less than 9% of the workforce in high-pressure occupations with above-average home-work distances and restrictive working conditions (staggered working hours). The demographic issue is significant with male and aging professions. All of which contribute to the current level of tension.
The third group represents nearly 19% of the workforce. These are skilled trades in building and industry (surveyor, site manager, works supervisor and draftsman in electricity and electronics). One in two working people lives more than 19 km from their place of work. These longer distances are linked to the industrial nature of the job, but also to the profile of the working population (87% men, 59% owners and an over-representation of two-earner couples). The main source of tension is the lack of available manpower, because these trades also require specific training.
Finally, the fourth group brings together the professions of service engineer and technical manager. It represents nearly 50% of the workforce. The lack of manpower also explains these recruitment difficulties, despite high numbers. Jobs are highly concentrated in metropolitan employment areas, while the long distances between home and work are the consequence of the residential choices of executives (55-minute journey by public transport, the main mode of transport for this group). The profile of these assets is younger (66% are under 45) and feminized. Insufficient training is, here again, an explanatory factor.
Construction and industry impacted
These are the two major sectors of activity where tensions are particularly strong. They represent, between them, a little more than half of the Ile-de-France trades in high tension. These two sectors are, however, less represented in the Paris region than elsewhere, which may explain in particular the lower proportion of Ile-de-France employees exercising a highly stressed job (38.5% against
45.1% nationally). In the construction industry, the origins of the tensions relate more to the dynamics of the activity and the importance of major projects (Olympic Games in Paris 2024 and Grand Paris Express). In industry, they come from a limited number of candidates. The profession most often exercised in Île-de-France under high pressure is that of engineer and IT research and development executive (nearly 170,000 salaried jobs, ie half of the national workforce). We can also mention electrical and electronics draftsman, mechanical and metalworking technician, building and public works engineer, site manager and works supervisor. For all these professions, the tension is linked in particular to a very high intensity of hiring and to a lack of labor with the skills sought.
It should be noted that home helpers and housekeepers topped the occupations in high demand with the largest workforces at the national level (570,000 jobs). This is due to the relatively restrictive working conditions (physical and part-time work) and the low level of remuneration. As for the nursing profession, it is the one with the largest volume of jobs in tension (86,300 workers in Île-de-France). The lack of graduates explains this tension.
Identified geographical areas
In Seine-et-Marne, in the employment sectors of Meaux, Coulommiers and Provins, professions with high worker pressure, mainly in industry and construction, represent around a quarter of the workforce. But in general, employees in high-pressure occupations mainly work in a crescent to the west of Paris (Versailles-Saint-Quentin, Saclay and Seine-Yvelinoise). Nearly one in three professions is concentrated in this geographical sector, compared to only 22% on average in Île-de-France. Metropolitan skilled trades (engineer, IT and industry study and research executive) are strongly represented within this scope. These areas exert a strong power of attraction with above-average home-to-work distances. For these professions, the boom in telework could have an effect of widening the recruitment areas and modifying the choices of residential locations.
Longer home-to-work distances
Overall, the journeys of Ile-de-France residents to get to their place of work are longer than for provincial workers (39 minutes against 21 minutes). The reason is simple: the more the tension on the labor market increases, the greater the distances between home and work. Thus, between workers in category 1 (low-strain occupations) and those in category 5 (high-strain jobs), the median journey increases from 6 to 13 km and the proportion of those who work outside the employment zone where they live goes from 25% to 38%. This link between job shortage and distance traveled seems particularly marked for six of the fifteen Ile-de-France employment zones: Paris, Versailles-Saint-Quentin, Évry, Saclay, Seine-Yvelinoise and Étampes. With the exception of the latter, they correspond to the five employment zones with the highest concentration of metropolitan functions. These areas are home to more executives who travel longer distances on average than non-executives. However, this does not mean that occupations under high pressure force employers to widen their recruitment area. The characteristics of the workers occupying these jobs partly explain this distance. There is in particular age (a maximum is between 35 and 50 years old) and family status (a young worker without children will be closer to his place of work before moving away from it when his household expands). Social category, level of training and sector of activity are also correlated with the distance travelled: it is higher for managers and workers compared to employees (median distances of 11.5 km and 12.2 km respectively compared to 8 .3km). The same is true for assets in industry and construction compared to those in administration (15 km and 13.3 km versus 7.2 km). These socio-demographic particularities therefore vary according to the type of employment considered.
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