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Summary of our market study
In 2023, the French recruitment market is estimated at 1.7 billion euros. Lhe French job boards market is worth around 300 million euros.
The market has surpassed its pre-pandemic level.
The global market is estimated at over 800 billion dollars
In France, the recruitment market is dominated by companies' in-house HR departments, but recruitment agencies continue to play a crucial role, particularly in the hiring of executives. 20% of recruitments are made via specialized agencies.
More than 2 million people resign every year, more than 25 million people are hired, and more than 10 million jobs are advertised.
Large international companies dominate the market.
Recruitment agencies generally charge a percentage of the recruited person's annual salary, ranging from 15% to 30%.
Regulatory changes, such as the 2005 Borloo law, have opened up competition for recruitment to temporary employment agencies (ETT).
The number of executive recruitments ranges from 220,000 to over 300,000. Young executives with between one and ten years' experience are the most sought-after. Executives with more than twenty years' experience account for a smaller proportion of recruitment.
The emergence of specialized firms like Teaminside, targeting digital job profiles, illustrates the market's adaptation to new candidate profiles.
The recruitment market is made up of a large number of players. The major international firms have consolidated their position on the French market.
- PageGroup: four brands: Page Executive, Michael Page, Page Personnel and Page Outsourcing
- Hays
- Robert Half International
- Robert Walters
- Hudson Global
- Korn Ferry world leader in executive search
- Egon Zehnder
- Spencer Stuart
- Eric Salmon & Partners : A renowned player
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Detailed content of our market study
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Summary and extracts
1 Market overview
1.1. Market overview and definition
The hiring market in France is increasingly dynamic, with 26 million people expected to be recruited by 2023, a number that is rising overall and remaining very stable.
Recruitment support efers to all the services, actions and tools put in place to help companies in their recruitment process. This can include a variety of services and interventions designed to facilitate the search, selection and integration of new employees. While to date in France, the main players in the hiring process are still companies' in-house human resources departments, the recruitment market is becoming increasingly digitalized, and a large proportion of recruiters are using auxiliary means to advertise their vacancies. This study focuses on the main areas of the recruitment support market in France.
This field includes :
- recruitment agencies
- job boards or job boards
- headhunting firms
- professional social networks such as Linkedin
A recruitment agency is a company whose purpose is to help and support its customers (private companies, the public sector, associations, etc.) in the recruitment (mainly on fixed-term or permanent contracts) of new employees, managers or administrators. to this end, customers delegate all or part of the recruitment process to the recruitment agency: publication of the vacancy, identification of candidates, selection, negotiation, signing of contracts, induction and training of the new employee. Hunting firms offer the same kind of service, but at much higher prices, and promise greater precision in the selection of candidates. They are generally aimed at companies seeking high-level executives, high-potential profiles or specialists in a particular field. In France, these operations primarily concern middle-management profiles. The role of these agencies is particularly important in a context where recruitment is difficult for companies, taking on average three months in 2023 compared to two months in 2020.
The scope of recruitment per se excludeshiring operations aimed at filling positions under temporary employment contracts (temping, temporary employment agencies).
1.2 A growing global recruitment and human resources market
The graph below shows the strong growth of the global recruitment and human resources market. Between **** and ****, the market grew by **%. The only year in which the market declined was ****, during the Covid-** pandemic. In that year, the market declined by *.*%.
In ****, the global recruitment and human resources market is worth ...
1.3 A growing but polarized French market
Recruitment consulting market
The chart below shows sales for the labor placement agency business (***), but will see a decline in **** with the covid-** crisis. By ****, sales in France will be close to *.* billion euros. It will then surpass its pre-pandemic level. **% of recruitment is carried out by specialized agencies. [***]
Sales of ...
1.4 A market impacted by covid-19
Less difficult executive recruitment
In ****, the number of executive recruitments fell by **% compared to ****. Against this backdrop, **% of companies felt that their recruitment processes were easier in **** than in **** (***). However, recruitment difficulties are set to rise again in ****, according to an APEC survey.
Percentage of companies considering that their executive recruitments ...
2 Demand analysis
2.1 Labor movements and unemployment in France
People looking for work
The graph below shows changes in the unemployment rate in mainland France. Here, the definition of the unemployment rate is based on that of the International Labor Office (***). The unemployment rate, which is the ratio between the number of unemployed and the number of economically active people, ...
2.2 Recruitment processes
In ****, **.** million job vacancies were advertised in France, down slightly on the previous year. According to France Travail, the job market is dominated by so-called "sustainable" hires, with **% of hiring projects in **** involving contracts of more than six months or open-ended contracts, a figure that will fall by ** percentage points in ...
2.3 The dynamics of executive recruitment in France
Recruitment vectors, search times and processes vary greatly depending on the socio-professional category under consideration. It is therefore relevant to segment the labor market, and this section will focus on trends in executive recruitment in France.
However, managers are much less affected by unemployment than other occupational categories, with only *.*% unemployed ...
3 Market structure
3.1. The employment-related activities sector in France
In the case of recruitment agencies, this activity can be classified under two NAF codes:
**.**Z "Activities of employment agencies" **.**Z "Business and other management consultancy services"
Job boards are included in these two NAF codes:
**.**Z "Internet portals **.**Z "Computer programming"
On the other hand, it is of ...
3.2. The main players in the recruitment market
In general, recruitment begins with the publication of an advertisement, followed by the selection of candidates and interview phases, which may include technical or psychological tests. Some positions are also filled by word-of-mouth. There are several channels through which you can recruit a new employee for your company and advertise. Among ...
3.3 New candidate profiles reshape market structure
The emergence of new candidate profiles and new skills is encouraging the emergence and growth of more specialized players.
The example of Teaminside, a firm specializing in digital professions
Teaminside was set up in **** to specialize in digital professions for companies not looking to recruit permanent staff. The firm was thus ...
3.4 Digitizing recruitment and the importance of artificial intelligence
In recent years, recruitment has become increasingly digitalized. In fact, by ****, **% of companies that had digitized their hiring processes said they had gained access to more qualified candidate profiles and had been able to engage with them on a personalized basis. Paper-based job offers have become obsolete, with the majority of ...
4 Offer analysis
4.1. How recruitment agencies work
The challenge for a recruitment agency, when providing services to a client, is to respond as quickly as possible to the client's request, not only to meet the negotiated deadline, but also to be able to allocate its resources to other services. The recruitment process used by recruitment agencies generally consists ...
4.2. Towards diversification
Two different approaches are mainly used to deliver recruitment support services:
Advertising
The use of advertisements presupposes an exchange between the firm and the customer to define the job description and draft a job offer. The advertisement is then published on job sites (***). It may also be published in the press ...
4.3. Pricing methods used
In general, recruitment agencies are paid a percentage of the recruit's annual salary. This percentage usually varies between **% and **%. It can be as high as **% if the recruitment is carried out by a prestigious consultancy. This cost covers the entire recruitment process, from the client's needs to the final candidate.
In ...
4.4 How job boards work and pricing
Job boards are platforms with a dual interface: on the one hand, they enable candidates to consult job offers and quickly apply to them, and on the other, recruiters to post their advertisements and build up a CV library to consult potential candidates. In this way, job boards build up a ...
5 Regulations
5.1. Consequences of the Borloo law (2005)
Changes in the regulatory framework are crucial to understanding the dynamics of recruitment agency business.
Following the Borloo law in ****, their sector of activity was opened up to competition from ETTs (***)
Temporary employment agencies can now recruit on both permanent and fixed-term contracts, opening up the placement business to the private ...
5.2 Recruitment subject to fairness laws
For any recruitment action, the selection of a candidate must be based solely on criteria linked to the specific needs of the job in question, or to the professional qualities of the person concerned. From reading the CV to the recruitment decision, selection choices must be objective, factual and comply with ...
6 Positioning the players
6.1. Segmentation
(***).
Major international players, mainly foreign, well established in France
PageGroup Hays Robert Half International Robert Walters Hudson Global
Small players with an innovative approach
Euromedica(***) Auvial Mosaïk RH Orientation Durable
Competitors in the recruitment support market include :
Headhunters
Korn Ferry, Egon Zehnder International, Spencer Stuart
Smaller players, such as the ...
- PageGroup (Michael Page)
- Hays
- Adecco Group
- Anywhr
- CRIT Groupe
- Ergalis (Actual Groupe)
- Kelly Services France
- ManpowerGroup France
- MeetYourjob
- Proman
- Robert Walters
- Light Consultants
- Skeelz
- Start People
- Supplay
- Synergie
- Talent Management Groupe
- Walters People
- Slash Interim
- Iziwork
- Aladom
- Scutum
- Actual Groupe
- Gojob
- Mistertemp'group
- Brigad
- Hellowork
- La Varappe
- Welcome to the Jungle
- Indeed
- Viadeo JDN
- Camo Emploi
- Pixid
- Menway
- Auvial
- Adéquat Groupe
- Adéquat
List of charts presented in this market study
- Size of the global recruitment and human resources market
- Unemployment rate
- Overall unemployment rate by gender end 2023
- Unemployment rate by level of qualification and length of time since leaving initial training
- Number of resignations in 2023 by sector
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Latest news
Temporary staff: Pixid strengthens its position in the United States - 26/06/2024
- - Pixid, a Courbevoie-based company offering a platform for exchanges between temporary employment agencies and recruiters, recently acquired its American competitor VectorVMS.
- - This acquisition comes less than a year after Pixid opened its first U.S. office in Dallas.
- - Pixid has customers in 38 countries - VectorVMS, formerly a subsidiary of the listed Learning Technologies Group plc, generates sales of $10 million with 30 employees.
- - Pixid has forecast sales of 40 million euros in 2023, with 250 employees.
- - VectorVMS specializes in the hospital sector and is experienced with the requirements of Managed Services Providers (MSPs)
- - Pixid plans to increase sales by 10% by 2023
- - Pixid plans organic growth as well as further potential acquisitions in Europe and the United States, with the support of its historical shareholder, Keensight Capital.
Camo, first French acquisition for European HR group W Group - 24/06/2024
- W Group: - Year of creation: 2022 in Lombardy
- - Sales in 2023: 560 million euros
- - Sales target for 2025: double to 1.12 billion euros
- - Number of consultants in headhunting network: 210 in Spain, UK, Switzerland and France
- - Number of consultants in France: 90 consultants (based in Paris and Lyon)
- Camo Group founded in 1986
- - Employees: 170
- - Sales in 2023: 125 million euros
- - Number of branches in 2023: 50 nationwide
- - Objective: to create around fifty additional temporary employment agencies over the next two years
- - Priority markets for deployment: Grand Est, Normandy, Brittany, with priority given to the Nancy-Marseille axis and central France
Human resources: Anywr placed under accelerated safeguard procedure - 19/02/2024
- Anywr was founded in 2013.
- The company has raised three rounds of financing since 2015, totaling 127 million euros. 80 million euros were contributed in 2022 by Naxicap Partners.
- The company has carried out 12 external growths.
- Anywr has over 900 employees, including 400 in France.
- Sales total 84 million euros.
Hellowork president dies at 53, mowed down by drunk driver - 22/01/2024
- Hellowork was founded in 2000 as RegionsJob by Jérôme Armbruster, Guillaume Semblat and Gwenaëlle Quénavon-Hervé.
- In 2018, the RegionsJob website became HelloWork.
- Four years later, the company merged with other job boards to become hellowork.com, an online recruitment platform.
- Today, Hellowork.com is a leader in online employment.
- Hellowork is a subsidiary of the Telegramme group, and specializes in helping professionals, companies and firms to meet their recruitment and human resources challenges, as well as training centers and schools to promote their training offers.
- The Hellowork team currently numbers 530 employees.
French Tech: Welcome To The Jungle acquires its British competitor - 22/01/2024
- Welcome To The Jungle has raised 50 million euros (including 4 million in debt).
- Otta, a British competitor created in 2019, is to be acquired by Welcome To The Jungle.
- Otta has 1.7 million subscribers spread across Europe (mainly in the UK) and the United States.
- Welcome To The Jungle counts its 5,500 customers mainly in France.
- Together, these companies generate annual revenues of 40 million.
- The company currently has 350 employees.
- Welcome To The Jungle plans to open an office in the United States this year (2022), originally scheduled for 2023.
- Jérémy Clédat, co-founder of Welcome To The Jungle, plans to move to the United States by the end of 2024.
- Welcome To The Jungle expects to break even by the end of 2024.
- The U.S. market is considered the world's largest in terms of recruitment expenditure.
Sudden death of Jérôme Armbruster, co-founder and Chairman of HelloWork - 20/01/2024
- Jérôme Armbruster founded his start-up, Régionjob.com, in 2000.
- Régionjob.com was renamed HelloWork.
- HelloWork has become the French leader in online recruitment and career guidance.
- In 2023, the company's sales topped the 100 million euro mark for the first time.
- Every year, HelloWork invests between 15 and 20 million euros in the improvement and development of its platforms.
- The company employs 530 people in Rennes, Bordeaux, Lyon and Lille. HelloWork has completed several acquisitions, including Seekube, Diplomeo and Basile.
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