The executive job market has almost turned the page on the coronavirus crisis.

The "restart" in the hiring of executives in the private sector was indeed "confirmed" in the second quarter, "fueled by the rebound in economic activity", according to a study by the Association for the employment of executives (Apec ) published on Tuesday.

Over this period, 14% of companies have "hired at least one executive", an increase of two points compared to the first quarter and a gain of four points compared to the last quarter of 2020, notes the Apec.

More SMEs recruited executives from April to June than in the previous quarter.

Above all, the number of job offers for executives published on the apec.fr site increased in the second quarter, going so far as to return in June to its “record level of June 2019”.

"A newfound confidence"

For a quarter of companies (26%), the second quarter was “better than expected”. Sign of the improvement, 78% of companies said in June to have "confidence in the development of their activity" (against 65% in March). "After long months without visibility", companies "display a newfound confidence", which "should last until the end of the year," said the director general of Apec, Gilles Gateau. Admittedly, “the level of uncertainties is not zero” currently, but “it has rather regressed compared to previous episodes” of the health crisis, he notes.

On the employee side, “external mobility intentions” remained stable in the second quarter, with 12% of executives planning to leave their company for another in the following quarter.

But the prospect of changing companies "becomes attractive again," said Apec.

In the second quarter, half of the executives (51%) saw in a change of company "an opportunity rather than a risk", when they were only 45% to share this opinion in the first quarter.

However, six out of ten executives (58%) consider that it would be "difficult" for them to find "an equivalent job".

And 23% "continue to feel threatened by the risk of dismissal", a fear that concerns 34% of those under 35.

In 2020, only 6% of executives had changed company, "the lowest rate since 2015," says Apec.

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