Recruitment of foreign workers made easier

Foreign workers who are not nationals of one of the 30 Member States of the European Union (EU) or of the European Economic Area, the Swiss Confederation, Monaco, Andorra, or San Marino, generally require a work permit to obtain employment in France.

If the worker does not already have this authorization, it is the employer’s responsibility to obtain it. However, the work permit may be denied if a local jobseeker can fill the job.

In practice, this requirement known as “the employment situation” criterion obliges employers to post a job offer with France Travail for a period of three consecutive weeks in the 6 months prior to requesting a job permit, during which they must not receive any valid applications.

However, this criterion is waived for jobs in professions and regions experiencing recruitment challenges, specified in a government decree (i.e., list of “occupations in short supply”). In these cases, employers can directly recruit foreign workers from outside the EU for these positions without first posting job offers with France Travail.

About eighty professions in short supply

The government recently updated the list of professions facing recruitment challenges, comprising eighty professions across metropolitan regions:

- Agriculture: farmers, market gardeners, horticulturists, breeders, wine growers, arboriculturists, and more.
- Personal care sector: home help, domestic help, and similar roles.
- Hospitality sector: kitchen assistants, multi-skilled restaurant employees, cooks, chefs, waiters, hotel staff, and more.
- Manufacturing sector: welders, skilled or unskilled workers, boilermakers, unskilled packaging workers and handlers, and more.
- Building and public works: masons, roofers, unskilled workers in building structural work and building finishing work, skilled or unskilled workers in public works, concrete and extraction, skilled workers in painting and finishing buildings, and more.
- Services sector: cleaners, short-distance drivers and delivery people, trainers, and more.
- IT sector: engineers and research managers, IT research and development, IT project managers, engineers and administrative executives, IT maintenance, and more.
- Trade sector: butchers, bakers, pastry chefs, and more.
- Medico-social sector: nursing assistants, nurses.

New Regulation for Undocumented Workers: Until December 31, 2026, undocumented workers employed who have been employed for at least 12 months, (whether consecutive or not) in a profession facing recruitment challenges within the last 24 months, and who have resided continuously in France for at least 3 years, may apply for a one-year temporary residence permit to regularize their status. Applicants do not need their employer’s approval to apply, but they must currently hold a position in qualifying profession at the time of filing for the residence permit.