French companies lack qualified staff despite 3.5m jobless

Paris

FIGEAC-AERO has a problem that says a lot about the French economy: the Airbus supplier can't find enough qualified people to staff its factories.

Even with one in 10 workers out of a job, companies cite difficulty in hiring as one of their biggest problems as a long-awaited economic recovery takes hold.

The crunch is particularly acute for Patrice Parisot, who runs a Figeac-Aero plant in Auxerre. Despite running ads, organising job dating events and offering training, few applicants call, fewer turn up, and the factory is short of operato…