Posted on April 4, 2022, 2:00 PMUpdated on April 4, 2022, 5:29 PM
Record missed, but little by little. Even by taking all the terms of use, the director-general of the Association for the Employment of Executives (APEC) Gilles Gateau showed a certain optimism about the 2021 recruitment at the end of January, well on track to surpass 2019’s 281,300 † Ruling made public Monday: 269,100 CDI or CDD for over a year. A figure that has risen very sharply compared to 2020 (+18%), but not so much as to completely erase the stigma of the Covid crisis.
“The year 2021 was clearly one of the upswing, stronger than expected if we refer to the hiring intentions expressed by companies a year ago,” welcomes Gilles Gateau.
To these nearly 270,000 hires, just under 56,000 internal promotions have been added to this status. If we remove the 261,500 layoffs, layoffs or retirements, the number of executive positions created in 2021 will be 63,500. Here too, the recovery in one year is spectacular (+72%), but below the 2019 vintage with 75,000 additional jobs.
Mid-year recovery
l’ improvement in managerial employment was evident from June latter, driven by its three traditional drivers, namely IT (56,480, +20% in one year), engineering R&D (36,140, +11%) and legal, accounting and advisory activities (25,760, +31%). Three engines that have not returned to their 2019 regime, however.
Other sectors, such as bancassurance or health social action, have surpassed their pre-crisis levels, while some are still lagging behind (notably hotels, catering, leisure or communications).
This dynamic is especially beneficial for young people, graduates of the class of 2020 or with less than five years of experience.
The benefits of learning
“In a context of recruitment difficulties, companies have had to adapt. Some have chosen to hire executives with less experience than expected (40%), a development that may have benefited young graduates,” explains Apec, highlighting the benefits of apprenticeships for the integration degree.
Those same employers, on the other hand, maintain practices from another era. As for the salary, the 2021 year was registered under the seal of the rebound “modest in view of the return of inflation, and still equally desperately unequal between male and female executives,” the association points out. Between 54,000 euros for the first against 47,000 euros for the seconds, the gap in the median gross annual salary is not narrowing.
“The increasing number of female executives being promoted to positions of responsibility is pushing their average salaries up. On the other hand, the gap with men remains in an equal position or if we look at the percentage of women with an increase,” notes Gilles Gateau, who regrets that the mobility bonus takes precedence over catch-up policy, despite all the agreements made for this purpose.
Outlook still well oriented for 2022
It will be necessary to wait until April 27 to know the intentions to hire company executives before 2022. At this stage, Apec is having a survey conducted in January and February, in an “ultra-positive” tone, according to its boss, Gilles. Cake. Cautiously given the war in Ukraine, the Association is waiting to compare these results with those of a new study launched in mid-March.
