Euro zone, France: Do companies really face hiring difficulties?

Surveys on companies’ hiring difficulties show that they have been at a high level for the euro zone as a whole, including in France, Germany and Spain, since 2017. If companies’ high hiring difficulties actually result in them struggling to hire new staff, then the answer lies in supply-side policies (reforms of the labour market, education and training) as demand-stimulus policies are no longer effective at all. But do companies really face hiring difficulties? If the surveys reflect a real problem in finding new staff, then we should see: An acceleration in wages. This is the case in all countries where hiring difficulties are reported ; A slowdown in employment combined with higher productivity gains (as companies try to become more efficient). This is not the case in any country. Altogether, it seems that companies are still able to find new staff normally, at the cost of slightly faster wage increases .