The French labour market is no longer split into two but four

Traditionally, France’s labour market could be split into two: in the labour market for skilled workers, the unemployment rate was low and not very cyclical, with full employment and even pressure ; in the labour market for low-skilled workers, the unemployment rate was high and cyclical, with structural problems of access to jobs for the low-skilled. But after the COVID crisis, the labour market will have to be split into four. In addition to the usual split between skilled and low-skilled workers, there is now going to be a split related to specialisation and to the matching of skills with the needs of the various economic sectors. This is because some sectors (automotive, aerospace, air transport, traditional retail, culture, office real estate, tourism, etc.) are going to be in trouble for a long time, and the skills that are compatible with these sectors will not face much demand . O ther sectors (IT services, security, online retail, logistics, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, etc.) are growing strongly and the skills that are compatible with these sectors are going to be in high demand. There will therefore be two criteria for analysing the labour market: the skill level and the nature of skills. Only one of the four “squares” will see full employment: skilled workers with skills that are compatible with the growing sectors.