Labour market in 2025-2026: a structural imbalance

The diagnosis made by public institutions is unambiguous: recruitment difficulties persist, despite an unemployment rate that remains significant. France Travail’s Workforce Needs Survey (BMO), now available according to the FAP2021 nomenclature for the 2026 edition, is the reference photograph. It is based on more than 2.2 million establishments surveyed and more than 416,000 responses used, and makes it possible to anticipate future tensions from one employment area to another.

This tension is not only quantitative; it is qualitative. As the High Commission for Strategy and Planning points out, the difficulties felt by managers are due to a range of factors: the nature of the job sought, the qualifications required, the size of the company, geographical location and sector of activity. In other words, two neighbouring companies, in the same business, can experience a radically different recruitment reality.

The root causes of the talent shortage are multifactorial: rising demands on candidates (remuneration, work-life balance, meaning), the rise in expected technical skills, an ageing population, an accelerated transformation of consumption patterns and technological upheaval. The DARES also points out that the relationship between recruitment tensions and unemployment is no longer linear: it is possible to have available jobseekers and long-term vacancies at the same time.

Sectors most affected by the talent shortage

The analysis of public data on jobs in shortage and the updated list of jobs in shortage published by the High Commission for Strategy and Planning in September 2025 converge: some sectors concentrate most of the recruitment difficulties.

Personal and business services

The tertiary sector remains the most exposed in terms of the volume of recruitments to be filled. Home helpers, domestic helpers, cleaners and personal care workers are at the top of the hiring intentions recorded by the BMO survey. The census of professions under pressure reminds us that the pandemic has highlighted the importance of these second-line professions, which are now considered essential but paradoxically remain among the most difficult to fill.

Information Technology and AI

The digital sector remains structurally understaffed. The professional union Numeum is explicitly acting against the skills shortage in the digital sector and is mobilizing its members to anticipate talent needs and strengthen the attractiveness of tech professions. The most sought-after skills are in cybersecurity, data, cloud and artificial intelligence. On the public side, the State itself recruits digital professionals all year round via the DINUM, a sign that the competition for these profiles goes far beyond the private sector alone.

Industry

In March 2024, the IGAS documented the tensions on the workforce and skills in the industry, in direct connection with training schemes. Reindustrialization, ecological transition, rise of AI in production: the needs are exploding in the engineering, production and maintenance professions. Apec has also studied artificial intelligence in industry, highlighting the emergence of hybrid profiles combining business expertise and mastery of AI tools.

Health and medico-social

Nursing assistants, nurses, midwives, doctors: retirements and demographic change are a chronic source of tension. The medico-social sector is one of the sectors where relay management and interim management missions are most frequently called upon to secure the continuity of establishments.

Hospitality, catering and retail

The hospitality sector continues to suffer from a lack of attractiveness due to the arduousness and working hours. On the retail side, the rise of e-commerce and the sophistication of customer journeys are shifting needs towards digital skills (data, customer experience, omnichannel supply chain).

Green economy

The statistical service of the Ministry of Ecological Transition has confirmed that recruitment difficulties persist in green economy professions (energy renovation, renewable energies, waste treatment), a sector that is expected to amplify its needs with the acceleration of climate commitments.

The impact of AI on recruitment and jobs

Artificial intelligence is profoundly reshaping the job market, both as a cause of new skills needs and as a tool for transforming HR practices. France Travail has devoted a complete dossier to artificial intelligence and the jobs of tomorrow, which maps the skills that are set to develop.

In terms of impact on organizations, the Digital Society Lab published in February 2025 a dossier on the impacts of AI on work and employment, presented as a new challenge for social dialogue at the Summit for Action on AI held in Paris. The High Commission for Strategy and Planning sees both risks (downgrading of certain skills) and opportunities (increasing productivity, freeing up value-added time).

In the HR field, DARES devoted an event to the transformation of recruitment practices by AI, and the Ministry of Labour took up the subject of the deployment of AI in organisations and its use in recruitment. Apec, in its study “Executives and AI – 2026”, extends the analysis on the executive population side: mastering AI is becoming a discriminating criterion in hiring for many managerial functions.

Takeaway for leaders AI doesn’t “replace” the talent shortage: it displaces it. Jobs with low added value are changing, hybrid skills (business + data + AI) are becoming rare and expensive. Anticipating this shift is a governance issue, not just an HR one.

European perspective: a shared tension

The talent shortage is not a French exception. Numeum, which defends the interests of the digital sector in France and Europe, recalls that mobilization is being organized at the European level to structure skills pools, particularly in cybersecurity, AI and innovation financing. The French public schemes — list of occupations in short supply, continuing education, apprenticeship — are part of a broader European dynamic of arbitration between initial training, retraining and talent mobility.

What solutions to the talent shortage?

Rethinking employer attractiveness

Remuneration remains central, but it is no longer enough. Flexibility policy (teleworking, compressed week), clear career paths, credible CSR approach, quality of middle management: these are all levers to be worked on jointly. The digital transformation of the HR function is a powerful lever for streamlining processes and improving the candidate experience.

Anticipating with a solid GPEC/GEPP

Identifying critical skills at 3-5 years old helps to avoid piloting by sight. Our article on the GPEC/GEPP diagnosis details the first key step in this structuring approach.

Securing HR risk

Turnover, absenteeism, departures of key executives: the shortage of talent amplifies exposure to HR risk. HR risk management by interim management provides an operational response to stabilize organizations under pressure.

Activate interim management

When a key position remains vacant, the cost of inertia quickly outweighs the cost of a quick fix. Relay management makes it possible to cover a management function (HRD, CIO, DAF, Industrial Director, Supply Chain, etc.) over 6 to 18 months, the time it takes to carry out permanent recruitment with peace of mind. This is one of the major use cases detailed in our article “5 examples of situations where to call on relay management”.

Things to doMap critical positions, secure the transmission of knowledge, invest in the employee experience from onboarding and activate an external pool of interim managers.

What to avoidLeaving a management position vacant for several months, dealing with the shortage only by increasing salaries, ignoring the AI dimension in the transformation of professions.

Is your organization facing a key job vacancy or critical recruitment pressure?

Wayden mobilizes an experienced interim manager in a few days to secure operational continuity and structure your talent policy.

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FAQs — Talent Shortage

Which sectors are most affected by the talent shortage in 2025-2026?

Personal services, digital technology and AI, industry, health and medico-social care, hotels and restaurants, trade and the green economy concentrate most of the tensions, as confirmed by the BMO survey by France Travail and the updated list of professions in short supply.

Is artificial intelligence worsening the talent shortage?

It is moving it more than it is making it worse: hybrid skills combining business expertise and AI mastery are becoming rare, while some tasks are automated. The work of the High Commission for Strategy and Planning and Apec confirms this restructuring.

How does an interim manager help to deal with the talent shortage?

He intervenes immediately to cover a vacant management position, structure the HR policy or lead a transformation project (digitalization, reorganization, skills plan) without burdening the permanent workforce.

What are the main causes of recruitment difficulties?

Rising candidate requirements, ageing populations, technological transformations, increasingly advanced qualifications and factors specific to the sector or location, according to the analysis of the High Commission for Strategy and Planning.

Which sectors are most affected by the talent shortage in 2026?