These are results that exceed initial predictions. Friday May 31, the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (Insee) revealed that the number of employees in the private sector increased by 0.3%, or 61,100 more positions in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the previous quarter. , revising upwards the figure of 50,500 net creations (+ 0.2%) initially published on May 7.
Over one year, salaried employment increased by 0.6% and is 6.2% above its level at the end of 2019, or 1.2 million additional jobs, added the institute. The workforce in the public sector gained “only” 14,000 positions (+ 0.2%).
All in all, it is the commercial tertiary sector which has the most troops (+52,400, excluding temporary workers). Two sectors in particular stood out: business services (+22,200) and accommodation and catering (+20,400). With the Paris Olympic Games (JO) approaching, it is difficult not to see a link, especially since these additional jobs are the result of a very sharp increase in fixed-term contracts (+43,700), to the detriment of permanent contracts. , who have retreated slightly.
A passing effect of the Olympic flame
And these figures could soon increase again: according to the Kyu firm, 137,500 job offers linked to the event have been published in the sectors of private security, hotels and restaurants, passenger transport and even cleanliness. and waste management. A “passage of the Olympic flame” effect was also observed, with “+64% of offers in Bordeaux undoubtedly explained by the reception of the Olympic flame at the city of wine and the activities planned along the route”. and + 31% of offers in Marseille, at the time when the torch appeared in the Marseille city, continues the firm.
That salaried employment benefits from a “JO moment”, that it benefits young people in the form of fixed-term contracts and that it continues in the second quarter, it is “probable”, explains Eric Heyer, director of the analysis and OFCE forecast, from Echoes. But finding an alignment of employment with growth and productivity gains is another story, “because since Covid, employment forecasts have often turned out to be false,” he analyzes.
According to the organizers of the Olympic Games, the preparation and hosting of the event should mobilize 181,000 jobs, this figure not including the 45,000 “volunteers” – volunteers – that Paris has recruited. Among these jobs are also already existing positions, so much so that we will have to wait for evaluation work from INSEE after the Games to assess the real effects on the economy, recall specialists in the sector.