Big concerns in the industry at the start of 2025. Since the launch of the “Who is recruiting?” barometer. by L’Usine Nouvelle, we have never experienced so many refusals to participate in our survey. “We are closing two factories, it is impossible to have a vision for 2025,” Michelin told us, for example.
And the numbers speak for themselves. This year, our barometer – which is not intended to be exhaustive, but gives a trend – is counting on 153,000 recruitments compared to… 182,500 last year. This is a drop of almost 20% compared to a year, it should be noted, historically high.
Who recruits the most?
At the top of our list this year: the SNCF. The group announces 21,000 recruitments for 2025, a slight increase compared to the previous year. LVMH is second. The Bouygues group completes the podium with 10,000 positions to fill.
Many industrial sectors still report high needs. According to the Directorate General for Armaments, the defense industry is hampered, for example, by 10,000 available positions which are not being taken up. Recruitment difficulties are therefore decreasing, but remain significant in many sectors and for the most sought-after positions. This is the case, for example, for digitization professions and digitalization in companies.
Three industrial sectors struggling
However, not all industrial companies are doing so well. This is especially the case for three particularly struggling industrial sectors. The automobile industry, whose difficulties often make the front page of L’Usine Nouvelle, as well as chemicals and steel.
If the economic uncertainties linked to the energy transition weigh heavily, each sector faces different difficulties. The transition to electric vehicles is shaking up production chains. Chemistry faces intense international competition and ever stricter European regulations. As for steel, it is suffering from geopolitical tensions and a dizzying rise in energy costs.
The ball is in the court of industrialists, but also – and above all – of public decision-makers, to prevent today’s alert from turning into tomorrow’s crisis.
Source: www.usinenouvelle.com
