We did not have to wait long for the crisis to weigh on hiring. From the first two weeks of confinement, in mid-March, CDD and CDI recruitments literally collapsed. A foreseen fact but which now becomes quantified and detailed through a study of the statistical service of the Ministry of Labor, the Dares. In the first quarter, only 5.657 million contracts were signed, a decline of 7.6% compared to the previous quarter. The decrease was however felt more on fixed-term contracts, with a decrease of 8%, than on permanent contracts, which showed a decrease of 5.6%. As a reminder, from March the number of job seekers registered with Pôle emploi in category A in France had recorded an unprecedented increase, of more than 246,100 registrations.
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If these figures highlighted Thursday by the Dares are not good, they are still encouraging: the rise in unemployment was driven by the hiring freeze rather than a massive wave of layoffs. In this sense, the partial unemployment scheme has proved, at least in the short term, an effective tool for preserving employment. In addition, over one year, the number of hires collapsed by 7.2%. A significant drop, however less marked than during the economic crisis of 2008-2009 (-9.7% in the 4th quarter of 2008). A fact that could be explained by the inclusion, over the entire quarter, of only two weeks of crisis.
In detail, the recruitment stoppages were mainly concentrated in small businesses. The Dares thus recorded a drop of 24.7% in establishments with less than ten employees and of 4% in companies with 10 to 49 employees. However, hiring continued in companies with more than 50 employees, with an increase of 3.3%. As for sectors, it is in the tertiary sector that the fall was the most significant with an 8% decrease in hiring. Next is construction, with -2.2%, and industry, with -1.8%.
