“44% of companies encounter significant recruitment difficulties”: the astonishing paradox highlighted by the director general of France Travail

The unemployment rate increased by another 0.2 points in the second quarter of 2026, reaching 8.3%, the highest level since the fall of 2020 and the Covid-19 pandemic, established the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies in August. Worse, in its economic report published in September, INSEE forecast unemployment at 8.6% at the end of the fourth quarter, up 0.6 points year-on-year. However, this does not prevent French companies from suffering from a lack of labor.

In an interview with La Tribune Dimanche, Thibaut Guilluy, the director general of France Travail, revealed: “Despite the current economic difficulties, 44% of companies nevertheless encounter significant recruitment difficulties.” This would represent 200,000 to 300,000 unfilled jobs. This is all the more significant in certain sectors, such as construction, where 66% of employers struggle to hire.

Changing expectations of young people

Faced with this sad observation, the public establishment claims to be mobilizing to “attract, train, recruit and above all retain”. From this Wednesday, October 28, a communication campaign will be launched to promote France Travail Pro. It is not the unemployment agency, but a “real public employment service”, “the leading HR partner of companies”, with 6,000 recruitments per day, the manager promised. So many advisors are dedicated to companies and the number of contacts with them continues to increase, thanks to technological innovation and AI, which “help to identify the best suited candidates much more quickly”.