The Parisian tumult, Clément has had enough.
After six years in a renowned consulting firm, which he joined on leaving a major engineering school, he decided to leave the constrained setting of La Défense in January to move to Chambéry (Savoie ).
The mountains have replaced the skyscrapers of the business district.
“We couldn't take it anymore from Parisian life, from public transport,” underlines the 28-year-old young man.
Clément is one of the 523,000 people who resigned in the first quarter of 2022, including 469,000 on permanent contracts.
The last time such a figure was reached?
In the first quarter of 2008, before the onset of the financial crisis.
A peak that rekindles the debate on the “great resignation”, a term used to describe the wave of contract breaches that took place in the American labor market after the first waves of Covid.
Strong position of employees
For Clément, no regrets.
“We are expecting our first child, after our marriage last year, we prefer to raise him in a healthy environment.
And work in a “serene” atmosphere.
During his years at La Défense, he chained the days to extension, ending at no time without ever "seeing the day", in a context of increased internal competition.
“It was the bonus to the one who would work the most, even if it means forgetting his personal life, he describes.
I preferred to resign to find a balance.
Today, he has taken up a position of responsibility in a large logistics company.
With an almost equivalent salary, around 4,000 euros net.
Read alsoThe day they knew they were going to resign: these employees who took the plunge tell
If the resignations are so numerous, it is thanks to an "economic upturn".
“The labor market is dynamic.
This increase in resignations is a symptom of this, as is the fact that employers who want to recruit have more difficulty, and that the activity of certain sectors is limited by lack of manpower", argues Michael Orand, statistician for the Direction of the coordination of research, studies and statistics (Dares).
Clearly, when the demand for work abounds, it is easier to sign a new contract.
As in the catering, personal service and construction sectors, regularly looking for employees since the beginning of the year.
And in highly skilled sectors?
“In IT, cybersecurity, accounting, many employees leave their jobs to become service providers, especially among 45 to 55 year olds.
The demand for work remains colossal, but becoming self-employed has advantages that are found less in the workforce, such as managing your own agenda, ”analyzes Anne-Sophie Alsif, chief economist at the consulting firm BDO France.
About 80% find a job within six months
And among young people?
"The 25-30 year olds understand that it's time to change employers if they want to benefit from a salary increase", comments Anne-Sophie Alsif, stressing that the strong demand for labor puts active young people in a position of strength.
Because high level of resignation does not mean rising unemployment.
About eight of the ten resigned from CDI in the second half of 2021 found a job in the following six months, according to figures from Dares.
Should we then expect a tsunami of resignations like in the United States where the “Biq Quit” concerns 4.5 million people per month?
“This level of resignations is high but not unprecedented.
It is an indicator that returns cyclically when the labor market is dynamic, tempers Michael Orand.
This is not an isolated phenomenon: since 2016, apart from the health crisis, the number of resignations has increased almost continuously.
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For Anne-Sophie Alsif, the rise should however continue as long as employment is in good shape: "The only element that could stop this dynamic is a global recession, causing a rise in unemployment which would then discourage employees from resigning. .
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