French engineers find jobs easily and companies, on the other hand, have great difficulty filling their positions, according to the annual survey by the Society of Engineers and Scientists of France. IESF conducted with former students of French engineering schools.
“Recruitment and mobility have returned to the pre-crisis level. Activity rebounded sharply in 2021 after the 2020 recession linked to the covid-19 pandemic, “the IESF said. The unemployment rate of engineers, 3.2% including young college graduates (2.2% otherwise) , “is on the lowest recorded levels,” according to the survey.
These suffering sectors
The rebound in activity led to a return of difficulties for recruiters: 20% of the recruiters interviewed “encountered difficulties in recruiting for all profiles, an unmatched level in the last eight years”, only 39% did not encounter particular difficulties . The nature of the difficulties varies according to the profiles sought, specifies the IESF, which cites, for example, “excessive salary requirements for artificial intelligence or cybersecurity experts”, or a “absence on the market of some profiles of technical experts”. “Companies have a hard time recruiting engineers because we don’t produce enough,” summarized Marc Rumeau, president of the IESF.
Around 38,000 new engineers enter the job market in France each year, while around 60,000 are needed, according to Marc Rumeau. The hydrogen sector would lack 5,000 engineers, the air and space sector 10,000, the nuclear sector, in full recovery, 10,000 engineers and technicians are missing, according to information available to the IESF president.
Regarding this specific sector, Marc Rumeau points the finger at the lack of political momentum, echoing the recent remarks of EDF CEO Jean-Bernard Lévy, abruptly reworded by President Macron: “We have been on the nuclear brake for 30 years. and very strongly for ten years, so we have not recruited and even less trained in these sectors “, deplores Marc Rumeau.
Recent graduates abroad
The phenomenon of the lack of engineers is not new, but it has increased in recent years, due to several factors, he said. He cited in particular the high school reform that removed mathematics from the common core of the first class and caused a substantial dissolution of questions, especially female ones, to which the executive promised to return. “We are starting to feel pressure on the pipeline of preparatory classes and therefore of engineering schools,” said Marc Rumeau.
He also deplored the “brain theft”, citing the case of the French hydrogen sector, whose ecosystem is located in the Rhône-Alpes region, and whose recent graduates “are sucked in”, notably for wage reasons, but not only by the Swiss neighbor. More generally, many young French engineers “will do a double degree”, particularly in Quebec or the United States and “won’t come back”, he regretted, urging the French industry to “beat their necks” and offer “attractive jobs. “.
