On the job market, some candidates are king. Or, in any case, behave as such. “It happened to me to have people of 22 or 23 years, without experience, who demanded salaries of senior executives, a company car and such a number of days of teleworking per week. All without having done any research on the company or the position, ”continues Julie Davico-Pahin, founder of Ombrea, who is developing shade houses to protect crops from global warming. An obviously crippling posture in a job interview.
Especially since Ombrea has no shortage of arguments to attract young recruits: committed to the environment, established under the Provençal sun, with generous salaries, growing after a fundraising of 10 million euros ... The recruitment method has also been worked on: headhunting, phone calls from Ombrea employees to candidates to forge a bond of trust and invitation to a half-day immersion within the teams. “These are both strong filters that make it possible to identify the right people and guarantees that we give to potential recruits,” emphasizes Julie Davico-Pahin. They receive so many proposals that it is important to be attractive and to work on your employer brand. However,I refuse to do belly dancing and ubiquitous promises to seduce. ”
A war for talents
Despite everything, recruitment often turns into a headache for startups, as qualified profiles - in data, IT development or artificial intelligence - are rare.
There would be a lack of 10,000 computer engineers in France, according to Numeum, the sector union.
So many arms - and heads - including French startups, which raised twice as many funds in 2021 than in 2020, are in dire need of sustaining their growth.
"A sartup has everything to prove, so we need people who are technically excellent and with the right mindset," explains Julie Davico-Pahin: resourceful personalities, able to explore and innovate, to be found among an already penurious population.
The equation is complex. ”
Junior engineers know they will choose their employer and not the other way around Caroline Therwath-Chavier, Founder OF The Allyance
Result: potential recruits are the subject of a real war for talent ... and are perfectly aware of it. “Junior engineers, for example, know they will choose their employer and not the other way around. From school onwards, they become aware of the scarcity of their skills, and therefore of their value, and prepare to negotiate closely. Up to a form of salary arrogance among some, who raise the stakes as if they were the kings of oil ”, deplores Caroline Therwath-Chavier, founder of the recruitment and HR consulting firm The Allyance, specialist in the fields of oil and gas. digital. A posture less frequent among women and experienced employees, passed through companies of all sizes, therefore more reasonable, she believes.
"In addition, investment funds push the startups they finance to recruit experienced profiles from other young reputable companies," continues Caroline Therwath-Chavier, which further accentuates the tension on recruitment. " So the candidates' negotiating room, even beyond technological professions. In the small world of startups, posting a particular name on your CV opens all doors. Étienne (1), an HR executive in his 30s who worked for several prominent companies, benefited from this when he was hired. “I was clearly in a strong position,” he says, “and never felt that I could lose the negotiation.” Including when he asks - and obtains - a fixed salary 50% higher than his previous salary. Without revealing an exact figure, he confides touching between 65 and 85.000 euros net annually. “Well beyond the usual market wages,” he admits.
General tension
While salaries are not soaring everywhere, the lack of personnel extends well beyond start-ups, innovative sectors or traditionally competitive professions, such as finance, investment banking or consulting.
The labor market as a whole has been in tension since 2015, according to Dares, the statistical studies service of the Ministry of Labor.
80% of HRDs have difficulty recruiting, according to their national association.
The unemployment rate has remained stable at around 8% of the working population since the end of 2019. Companies have even continued to recruit and create jobs, despite the pandemic.
In addition to the lack of personnel, another problem arises for employers: the new expectations of working people, especially the youngest. "Candidates want to work from home, have fixed hours to preserve their pro-personal balance, they want autonomy, friendliness, confidence ...", lists Steven Dailleux, co-founder of Friday Treize, a recruitment and HR consulting firm specialist in notarial professions. A profession in serious shortage of staff, he assures, and stuck in habits far removed from current aspirations. “Many notarial firms do not even have an HRD, we are very far from yoga classes in the office,” he continues. It is all the more complex since many young graduates not only demand a certain comfort at work, but also, immediately, responsibilities,a big salary and many advantages. Some even claim associate status straight away, without ever having proven themselves. "
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A new balance of power
Undoubtedly the sign of a profound redefinition of the social contract between employers and employees. The promises of some are no longer always up to the expectations of others, which evolve at full speed - social and ecological commitment, pro-personal balance, search for meaning ... Above all, companies no longer have a monopoly: at a a time when the office is less and less a place of collective life, where you can earn a better living in freelance than in CDI and where many aspire to a tailor-made life, we hesitate less to slam the door to go taste greener grass elsewhere. In the United States, the phenomenon is so massive that we are talking about the Great Resignation: last November alone, 4.5 million people left their jobs, in all sectors. Some even put it on social media,where the #QuitMyJob has accumulated thousands of videos.
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If France is not there, companies are making more promises to attract and keep talent.
Publicis Groupe, for example, has just announced that its 85,000 employees will be able to spend six weeks a year in another office abroad.
The health insurer Alan has meanwhile eliminated meetings and managers, introduced unlimited vacations and extended maternity and paternity leave.
Others, startups or SMEs, have opted for the 4-day week, with no pay cut.
This is perhaps one of the positive aspects of this new balance of power, which pushes companies to take more account of the well-being and mental health of employees.
In any case, the most privileged, who regain power thanks to tensions on the job market and at the end of linear careers.
It remains to invent the right models, to find new points of balance, to distinguish healthy requirements from excessive demands and to re-establish the link between the individual and the collective.
In the world of work, everything seems to be renegotiated.
(1) The first name has been changed.
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