Online vacancies for professionals in France rose sharply in February 2012 when compared to a year ago with the construction and technical sectors taking the lead, the French Association for the Employment of Professionals (Association Pour l’Emploi des Cadres, APEC) reports.

The APEC index follows the number of French vacancies for professionals posted on the most relevant job boards every month. The index grew by 30 points in February 2012 when compared with February 2011.

Roles in the Industrial production and Construction sectors recorded the strongest growth (+73 points), followed by Technical Services (+66 points) and Research and Development (+55 points). On the other hand, Accounting, Finance and Administration roles (+1 point) and Human Resources (-2 points) were lagging behind.

Based on professional vacancies posted on the APEC website only, the association indicated that the number of vacancies increased by 30% in February 2012 from a year ago. Vacancies in the Industrial production and Construction sectors, which make up 7% of all vacancies posted on the APEC website, grew sharply by +70%, driven by an increase in Industrial Production roles.

Furthermore, roles in Technical Services, which make up 9% of all vacancies posted on the APEC website, grew by +59% when compared with February 2011. This was mainly driven by Process Engineering, Management roles and followed by Quality Assurance.

Vacancies in Research and Development, which make up 15% of all vacancies posted on the APEC website, also went up by +62%;, driven mainly by Management roles, followed by posts in Testing and Validation.

Vacancies in IT, which represent 27% of all vacancies posted on the APEC website, and Sales grew in February 2012 by +20% and 31% respectively, when compared with last year’s results.

Although this monthly APEC report would suggest hiring trends in France are following an impressive upwards trends, an article published online by l’Usine Nouvelle indicates that the actual hiring figures are not as rosy as they are made out to be.

According to the records of the Association of the Collectors of Social Contributions (Association des Collecteurs des Cotisations Sociales, ACCOS), new hiring contracts have actually decreased by -8.5% in February 2012 when compared with last year. The association also indicated that the use of overtime has increased by +2.7% in January 2012, on a year-on-year basis.

To read the APEC press release in French language, click here.

To read the article on the ACCOS figures on in French language, click here.