You no longer necessarily need a CV to apply. All you have to do now is fill out a simple questionnaire to be “pointed” to the “right” company… On June 15, at the VivaTech trade show, Adecco’s subsidiary, Qapa, set up this new functionality to boost applications. A timely solution to fill vacancies… A few weeks before the start of the summer holidays, around 200,000 seasonal jobs are still to be filled in France: restaurateurs, waiters, pickers, home helpers, maintenance workers , animators or substitutes in the administrative sector. The specter of a great void in the workforce, which can result in an immediate shortfall in terms of turnover.
Recruitment difficulties that can affect particularly critical sectors, such as home help. Adding a public health issue to the economic equation. This summer, the beneficiaries of the Amper association, based in Brittany and working in particular with the elderly or in need, will see certain so-called “comfort” services disappear: no more cleaning, gardening or walks. Out of 25 positions usually open to compensate for absences due to summer holidays, only a dozen have found takers. In campsites, traditionally popular with seasonal workers, the situation is not rosy either. “There are still 10% of positions to be filled when the season has already started”, is alarmed Rémi Peschier, vice-president of the National Federation of Outdoor Hotels.
The reasons for this desertion are numerous and, sometimes, add up. In Brittany, which has the lowest unemployment rate in France, it is more difficult than elsewhere to find available people. Another reason often cited is the entry into force of the unemployment reform, which is not conducive to a seasonal way of life, by extending the necessary period of contributions and by using a calculation basis taking into account the days which have not been worked. From then on, many customary employees of “odd jobs” preferred to change paths. Profound social changes also seem to be confirmed: sometimes generational, sometimes linked to the Covid, new professional mentalities have asserted themselves and destabilized recruiters.
stem the phenomenon
Employers are trying at all costs to stem the phenomenon. As summer approaches, job dating and original communication operations are on the rise. Gilles Cavallari, the president of an interim network, even used “a session on Twitch, with influencers, to seek out another type of audience and attract them to seasonal jobs to be filled”. Players from Stade Rennais played an online football game live, commented on by an influencer. The opportunity to get the players to talk about their professional career and the streamer opportunities offered by the temp agency. In the process, traffic on the latter’s website increased by 21%. In the spring, the company had already opted for a presentation of its seasonal jobs on TikTok. A way like any other to stand out and attract attention.
La Mer de sable, an amusement park located in the Oise, preferred a pedestrian rally with Pôle emploi at the beginning of June. For two hours, mixed teams of job seekers and recruiters walked the streets of nearby Creil to answer riddles about the city. A more traditional job dating followed. An appreciated experience, which however was not enough to fill the vacancies in the restoration of the park. A disinterest all the more surprising that they offer the same hours and the same wages as those of carousel operator. Antoine Lacarrière, the director of La Mer de Sable, is now thinking of “creating a single mobile team on the workstations, but that requires a lot of training time”. There are also the classic interventions in schools and in training centers, to which the Amper association has engaged, to inform young people of the job offers available, in connection with their studies. These operations are multiplying and sometimes go as far as the distribution of leaflets in front of the universities. Finally, almost all companies have adopted digital communication. Educational videos about positions, development of an “employer image” broadcast on social networks or even greater attention paid to the writing of ads posted online.
The essential question of salary
These innovative recruitment techniques are usually combined with an improvement in working conditions or wages. The management of the Mer de sable offers, for example, noise-canceling helmets for the noisiest rides, a bonus of 150 euros for a successful cooptation as well as a room equipped to take advantage of the break and the reimbursement of mileage costs, more than ever. plebiscite.
In Finistère, the La Torche campsite seeks to retain its seasonal workers. The hourly wage increases with each season spent in the team and it is possible to stay on site. An initiation to surfing is even offered to those who want to try it. “We make sure that it’s a paid vacation with less than 35 hours worked and all the advantages of the place available,” says one of the campsite managers.
With regard to the animation sector, consultations took place at the start of the year and led to the announcement of measures to try to curb departures: lowering the possibility of training to 16, shortening the delay in obtaining the diploma or even the development of gateways between the activities of animation and those of social work.