2023 is off to a good start for executives. Pension reform, inflation, reorganization of work, threats of recession… nothing seems to disturb the job market for these employees, who are always sought after by companies, particularly large ones.
According to the Association for Executive Employment (APEC), which publishes its barometer for the first quarter of 2023 on Thursday, February 9, recruitment intentions are still in good shape: 64% of large companies and ETIs, 22% of SMEs and 7% of VSEs plan to recruit at least one manager within three months.
“This represents 14% of all companiescomments Pierre Lamblin, director of studies at APEC. They were 13% in 2022 and 10% in 2021. The market continues to grow. » Despite the economic uncertainties, companies seem to have regained some visibility at the end of the year. They are 73% to have confidence in the evolution of their order book. The question of how they will spend the winter is behind them. More and more SMEs (70%) and VSEs (63%) are now able to anticipate their activity on a three-month horizon.
“Long time to recruit”
Companies surveyed by APEC from December 5 to 16, 2022 believe that the energy crisis has primarily affected their margins, not their business. This does not hinder the recruitment of executives. The announced hirings have therefore been programmed. In the fourth quarter of 2022, 150,500 executive job offers were published. That is 4% more than in the fourth quarter of 2021, and much more than in 2019 (117,300 offers).
“It’s a good indicator: 45% of executive hires in France gave rise to an advertisement on the Apec.fr website, says Gilles Gateau, the general manager of the association. The momentum is very strong, but we must remain cautious on the annual forecasts. The economic outlook is not good. We were surprised by this result. Rather, we were expecting a slight change in trend. »
Sectors benefit from this dynamism in different ways, depending on their exposure to inflation or the energy crisis, and their dependence on household consumption. Job opportunities rose sharply in the automotive and aerospace industries (+42%), but declined for agrifood (−9%), communications and media (−12%), and business-to-business ( −19%).
Recruitment difficulties are driving the executive employment market more than ever: 79% of companies planning to recruit in the first quarter anticipate difficulties. “The recruitment period has been reduced from nine to eleven weeks. It’s so long that companies don’t take the risk of taking a break and missing out on a candidate, explains Gilles Gateau. In 2022, one out of four recruitments was abandoned for lack of candidates. »
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