Jobs go begging as workers go jobless

Figeac-Aero has a problem that says a lot about the French economy: the Airbus supplier can’t find enough qualified people to staff its factories.

Even with one in 10 workers out of a job, French companies cite difficulty in hiring as one of their biggest problems as a long-awaited economic recovery takes hold.

The crunch is particularly acute for Patrice Parisot, who runs a Figeac-Aero plant in Auxerre. Despite running ads, organising job dating events and offering training, few applicants call, fewer turn up, and the factory is short of operators for its brand new machines. That’s left the company saddled with 75 million ($127m) of orders, which none of its seven French sites can take on.

“I just don’t know who to turn to anymore,” he said.

About 3.5 million of France’s 29 million workforce are unemployed. Last year, 200,000 to 330,000 job offers went unfilled, according to the national job agency Pole Emploi. Three quarters of that was due to a lack of candidates deemed qualified.

President Emmanuel Macron’s government is trying to tackle that problem, pledging to invest 15 billion in education and vocational training, and to revamp the apprenticeship system.

But for now, a lack of enthusiastic labour is restricting the economy’s potential. Bank of France governor Francois Villeroy de Galhau likens the economy to a car engine that just isn’t powerful enough, explaining that no matter how hard authorities press the accelerator, it won’t go faster. “We cannot remain a country with three million unemployed where at the same time many companies have difficulty recruiting. It’s a real paradox,” said Villeroy.

In Cholet, western France, a poll by employers’ lobby Medef uncovered 1916 unfilled positions last year versus the region’s 4500 job seekers. Unions say low pay and unsuitable working conditions are part of the problem.

“People don’t come and they don’t stay either,” said Jeremy Gargaros, a member of the CGT union who trains machine operators at Figeac-Aero’s largest plant in the town of Figeac, southern France.

Qualified and experienced newcomers baulk at lower than expected pay while those learning the trade are quickly overwhelmed by the pressure to churn out faultless parts, he said. “They’ll run the minute there’s a choice.”