France faces a high rate of departures within companies but no "big resignation"

Since the Covid-19 pandemic, many sectors have been particularly affected by resignations, including catering.

Here, a restaurant at the Café du Port, in Plouezoc'h, on May 25, 2022. © Fred Tanneau / AFP

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2 mins

France has been facing since the end of 2021 a historically high number of resignations within French companies since the end of 2021, attests the Department of Studies of the Ministry of Labor (Dares): nearly 520,000 departures per quarter.

But according to the study published Thursday, August 18, the trend is to be put into perspective, because the rate reported to the population is not unprecedented or comparable to the phenomenon of “ 

 ”, observed in the United States during the pandemic.

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since last year

, the phenomenon is not new.

It is not comparable either to the wave of

by the psychologist and specialist in the world of work, Anthony Klotz.

"Big Quit" in the United States

In the United States, the pandemic and the lockdown have for many people questioned the very meaning of their life or work,

“ 

 ”

 .

Just like across the Atlantic, thousands of employees in France left their jobs between the end of 2021 and the beginning of 2022, mainly for another job, or to retire from working life.

In France, this larger than usual wave of resignations reached nearly 520,000 per quarter, including around 470,000 resignations from permanent contracts (CDI), compared to around 430,000 per quarter at the end of 2019, before the health crisis. .

This is almost identical to the 2008 wave during the global financial crisis, which set the previous record high.

510,000 employees had then left their jobs, including 400,000 on permanent contracts.

Cyclic indicator

In fact, the number of resignations is a cyclical indicator, recalls the Dares: it drops during crises and

.

In the current context of post-pandemic recovery, the increase in the resignation rate is “ 

 ”.

It simply reflects the dynamism of the labor market in France.

Another element to take into account: there are recruitment difficulties in France in trades considered difficult such as catering and construction.

This situation would allow certain employees to negotiate upwards in their wages or their working conditions, adds Dares.

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