Many jobs vacant in France despite high unemployment

This translates to 1.19% of jobs - or 156,300 - sitting vacant at the end of June 2018.

The highest levels of vacant posts were in specialised scientific and technical jobs (1.89%); information and communication roles (1.74%); hospitality and restaurants (1.65%); human health and social work (1.64%); arts, performance and leisure (1.37%); and financial and insurance (1.35%).

In absolute numbers, there were 100,754 jobs empty in the commercial sector; 31,458 in industry; 29,969 in manufacturing; 18,520 in scientific and technical work; 11,584 in information and communication; and 11,392 in hospitality.

These new figures largely correspond to the study published by government unemployment service Pôle Emploi, in April 2018.

This study showed that aside from seasonal work, employers were mainly seeking caretakers, home cleaning staff or home help; kitchen and restaurant workers, and nurse aides; as well as engineers, researchers, and computer developers.

Figures showed that employers found it most difficult to recruit for roles as varied as carpenters, roofers, boiler specialists, dentists, garage specialists, electrical designers, and even aeroplane navigators.