Employment: the revenge of the regions

a Change of scenery, many dream of... Not only to escape an environment that is too stressful or too polluted, but to build a real life project.

a Change of scenery, many dream of... and they are more likely to take the plunge. But it is no longer only to flee an environment that is too stressful or too polluted. Candidates to the mobility now aspire to build a real life project.

"It's been ten years that the desire to leave Paris we trotted in the head, confesses to Caroline Abelman, 39 years old, mother of two sons 6 and 9 years old. I had ras-le-bol of the cost of living, the pressure and the RER between the apartment of Châtillon, south of the capital, and the office in Saint-Denis, to the north. School children, work... We wanted to change everything." Problem, Jérôme Petit, his companion, aged 42, an executive of a computer company, and she, a lawyer in the health sector, do not really know where to go. "We looked at the map of France by deviating from Lyon and Marseille as it was too polluted, continues the young woman. We were looking for a city not far from the mountain. We opted for Toulouse, where we had never set foot in!"

In July 2016, to accelerate the movement, they decide to resign and leave... without a job or house in sight. "And in September, the whole family was back in the same day!", she smiled. Caroline has secured a job through an unsolicited application. Jerome became director of the south-west sector of a company located in Nantes, via a small ad. "We chose the neighborhood, thanks to friends in toulouse and I called the wardens of the schools in the area to inform me," said she. After a year of renting, they are now owners of their house, in the residential neighborhood of Cote Pavee. "We have more space, she says. In the summer, we live outside. The movements are easier. We go often to the mountain or in the countryside. We have more human contacts. Even the professional setting is more relaxed!"

Your support is essential. Subscribe for $ 1 support Us

200 000 ile-de-france go every year

As Caroline and Jerome, the number of ile-de-france have the desire to be elsewhere. The annual study of Cadremploi, published in September of 2017, shows that 55% of the executives parisian respondents are not satisfied with their current life. "But all of the socio-professional categories are concerned, explains Antoine Colson, the co-founder of the salon Route to France. 4 million in the île de france dream of escaping every year, 200 000 of them pass the act. The Île-de-France is still a rite of passage for a lot of provincials, who are pursuing their studies or start their career. Once in a couple with children, they often prefer to leave." In fact, 80% of the executives surveyed by Cadremploi "are seriously considering a regional mobility", in particular, people in a couple, tenants and with a child. A pressing desire: 94% of them want to leave the Île-de-France within five years, of which 40% in less than a year.

Not surprising, therefore, that the migration balance of the Île-de-France is negative, as confirmed by the Insee: 30000 inhabitants and less each year, with deficits of population high in the Yvelines, the Val-d'oise and Seine-et-Marne. The major reasons? The time of transport, punitive damages, and the cost of housing, prohibitive. "Until the 1990s, the mobility was very much linked to the employment, analysis Gérard-François Dumont, a demographer. Today, the quality of life expected premium. The daily life becomes difficult in highly populated areas, especially for parents of young children. Unlike the inhabitants of the centers of Lyon and Paris, those of less developed areas become more accessible to individual housing. The land available is more important and the cost is significantly less. As a result, some create their own business to be able to settle in a region, which a priori offers them few opportunities for employment." Promiscuity, pollution, fatigue: these are all reasons that may cause the click of the start.

"The land where trees dream", a work by the artist Laurent Pernot, in the centre of Nantes in the summer of 2017.

afp.com/JEAN-SEBASTIEN EVRARD

"so far, the candidates for mobility will not be satisfied to leave an unsatisfactory situation, they are seeking a positive, finds Antoine Colson. Today, the province is "sexy"." Bordeaux, Nantes, Lyon, Toulouse and Montpellier top the cities favored by executives, according to Cadremploi. "Often, the people planning to settle in a big city because they say that they will see the benefits of the capital, without the drawbacks," says Aurore Thibaud, director of Laou.fr a support platform the decision to change the region. In plain language, they aspire to offer the same transport, services, outputs, but more accessible. "The cities are often attractive to the Parisians, in particular, assets with strong purchasing power who want to retain their way of life, confirms Antoine Colson. This is great. The dynamics of employment in these cities are better than in the Île-de-France. Thus, Nantes displays a payroll growth of 3% to 4% per year when the paris region is established at the level of the national average, an increase of about 1.7% per year." However, large cities are no longer the only poles of attraction.

The candidate at the start dream also mountain and coastline

"The petites coastal cities of the West such as La Rochelle, Vannes, Saint-Malo or Granville are experiencing a real boom, says Antoine Colson. This is an opportunity to adopt a different life style and live its passions, water sports, fishing, etc" This influx of population in the sea is not without consequence. The Alps-Maritime and the Charente-Maritime, formerly popular, are less so today because the price of real estate rise, and this encourages newcomers to earn the more remote areas of the coastline.

Another destination attractive: the campaign. It remains one of the fantasies number one urban in search of renewal. "Rurality is a space to change jobs, environment and mode of life," observes Anthony Colson. Some spend and finance to The Defence to the breeding of horses, in the Allier." Course France is estimated to nearly 50,000 the number of facilities in rural areas each year. More than half of the île de france opt for the countryside in a bordering district of Île-de-France : Oise, Eure, Eure-et-Loir, in the Yonne or Loiret. But some venture further. "Since 2010, the annual average growth rate of the rural communes is higher than that of the urban communes, bounces Gérard-François Dumont. Departments such as the Creuse, Aveyron or Cantal even become lands of immigration with a positive balance of population."

Learn to reconcile its own criteria

Still, in the competition to attract residents, talent, the regions are not all housed in the same boat. "Among the territories less attractive are the East, the Centre and the North or mid-sized cities", explains Antoine Colson. All suffer especially from a poor image. "The media have the tooth lasts with regard to some places, finds Aurore Thibaud. Picardy is a beautiful place near Paris and the sea, dynamic and culturally. The Picards are welcoming and the people that settled there are happy. Yet, the press never speaks. Everywhere in France, there are extraordinary places. Mont-deMarsan or Limoges are moving and it is four times cheaper than in Bordeaux... And we are not all meant to live in the same place!" The challenge is therefore to reconcile its own criteria: occupational choice, social life, living environment, etc "And realize that it is, for example, done for the Region rather than for the Vendée", insists Aurore Thibaud.

(1) 2017, 109 p., 14,90€ 9,90€ eBook.

Read our complete file

Exit Paris, the key to success

For city dwellers who are confined, the future seems to be in the countryside, Angers, Dijon, Pau... The secret of these cities, liveable Cities : survey methods 2019

Against all expectations, Corentin Orsini, 33 years, consultant in strategy and innovation, has chosen the lille area to settle on with Laure, 35 years old, a communications consultant, and their two daughters, aged 6 and 3. A native of the basin of Arcachon, he never imagined one day living in the North. "I had never set foot in Lille. I had prejudices about the weather, the misery...", he acknowledges. The couple lived in Paris - and then her graduate studies. "The arrival of the second child, it became obvious from, remembers the young man. We first thought about the place. As we are self-employed, it was necessary to be able to easily travel to Paris to see our customers. We wanted a big city where it was possible to become owner of a house with a garden." It took only a few weekends in Lille to identify the area of their choice, visit several properties before buying a house in Mouvaux, a few kilometres from the centre, where they were moved, in July 2015. Experience told in a book, to Leave Paris for the province and live a happy life (1), co-authored with Aurore Thibaud. "The approach to change of region is not very complicated," he says. On the other hand, the blockages are often in the head. Many dream of but fear they may not get there." Two years after their installation, Corentin and Laure do not regret a moment of their choice.

(1) 2017, 109 p., 14,90€ 9,90€ eBook.