Has employment in commerce and catering been in decline for years? This is what Christophe Noël, the general delegate of the Federation of Trade Actors in the Territories, sought to find out, tired of hearing many professionals complain about the repercussions on the employment of “the increase in Internet commerce”and a sector of activity that is not doing well, “since we see the shops closing one after the other and the city centers becoming deserted”, especially since the health crisis. He therefore wanted to get to the bottom of it, by carrying out a study with the firm SAD Marketing, based on data from INSEE, Urssaf and the Federation of e-commerce and distance selling, and published Thursday October 19.
Result: more than 586,000 full-time equivalent jobs were created in commerce and catering between 2006 and 2022, an increase of 25% in the number of employees. More than the 11% increase in the number of salaried jobs in France. A difference also valid post-Covid: 7.2% more workforce in commerce and catering since 2019, compared to + 5.8% for total salaried employment.
The entire trade, catering included, employed nearly 3 million people in 2022, “i.e. 15% of salaried jobs in France” (11% in commerce and 4% in catering). “Let’s stop with this Malthusian speech about the inexorable decline of trade, this cannot be seen in employment”, concludes Mr. Noël. The only pitfall of these figures is that they do not include small independent traders who do not employ any employees, and whom Urssaf therefore does not count.
Certain areas of activity weakened
Internet, which represented 12.4% of retail trade in 2022 (compared to 0.9% in 2006), would therefore, according to the study, not reduce the overall workforce in the sector or indeed its activity. “Retail and catering turnover will reach 589 billion euros in 2022, up almost 25% since 2006” and 12% since 2016, mentions the study.
However, certain sectors of activity have been weakened by the rise of the Web, because, at the microeconomic level, “the greater the weight of e-commerce, the greater the impact on employment”, notes the study. The fall is “notable” in businesses specializing in personal equipment (− 6% of workforce and − 13% of establishments over fifteen years), while the share of distance selling increased from 8% to 14%.
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