Executives: the sectors that recruit the most in the industry

Managers, industrial companies need you! After coming to a halt at the start of the health crisis, executive employment took off again in spring 2021. The field of industry has particularly benefited from this recovery: according to a study published by Apec in by mid-December, it should register 48,200 job offers posted in 2021. That is 38% more than in 2020.

In 2020, in fact, certain sectors suffered particularly from the consequences of the health crisis. Aeronautics, for example, had to cope with the stoppage of flights. The energy sector, for its part, suffered from the drop in energy consumption of companies caused by their closure. But although it has not returned to its pre-crisis level, the executive employment market has recovered in 2021, especially in certain sectors.

The mechanical-metallurgy sector, which represents a quarter of job vacancies published in 2021 in the industry, leads the way. Next comes the electrical and electronic equipment sector (15%), then the food industry (12%) and the chemicals-rubber-plastic sector. Conversely, the sectors representing the lowest share of executive job vacancies are that of wood-paper-printing (4%) and waste management (3%).

New skills expected

Within these sectors, new skills are emerging. The digital field is more present than ever in industry through virtual reality, the Internet of things or even cobotics, that is to say the field of collaboration between humans and robots. Data skills are also increasingly in demand, in particular to serve competitiveness and guarantee the safety of industry professionals.

While certain profiles, such as managers and quality engineers, are sought after in a large number of industry sectors, each field has expressed its own need for skills in 2021. For example, the mechanical-metallurgy sector is in high demand commercial professions, such as technical sales representatives and business engineers, while the wood-paper-printing industry seeks above all to recruit management executives in industrial production.