France: It is hard to believe that the labour market mismatch will not have an effect on growth

French companies are now faced with acute hiring difficulties, and there is a huge number of job vacancies in French companies across all sectors and all skill levels. So it is hard to believe that France’s growth is determined solely by demand for goods and services, and that the labour market mismatch will not have a negative effect on employment and growth. This negative effect would manifest itself in a decline in the capacity of France’s domestic productive structure to meet an increase in demand, and therefore in increased use of imports. This was clear to see from 2013 to 2016, but less clearly from 2017 to 2018 even though it was during this period that the hiring difficulties appeared. There is therefore not yet proof that hiring difficulties have curbed French growth in 2017-2018. But they could do so soon .