Jobs under shortage

An arrêté issued on May 21, 2025 publishes a new list of jobs under shortage of manpower, in application of article L414-13 of the Code for entry and stay of foreigners and asylum law (CESEDA). This is quite the event in the world of French immigration law, because this is only the third of its kind to be published in 16 years. The previous one was issued in 2021, and the one before in 2009.

Jobs under shortage are those for which the work permit process does not require to prove that research has been made on the local market before choosing to hire a foreigner. These jobs, attached to a code set by France Travail (the French public service for job search), are those in structural shortage of manpower, and therefore those where hiring a foreigner is least likely to take the place of a French worker.

One can wonder about the relevance of such a list on the job market for so long : the 2009 list was active for 12 years, the 2021 list was active for 4. Understandably, the 2009 list was criticized by a number of specialists especially in the last 5 years of its legal existence. The 2021 list had a number of crucial omissions (such as jobs in the restaurant market and agriculture), omissions that have been repaired by the 2025 list. Therefore, we do have a reason for rejoicing : if only for a few months, this current list is up to date.

The modifications it brings are for the most part welcome : home workers make their appearance on the list, making it much easier for individual employers to hire foreigners, thus helping in reducing the shortage of elder home assistance workers. Kitchen jobs are also on the list, as had been long requested by stakeholders.

The job in shortage list fulfils a second, perhaps darker, role, in immigration law. This list is also the one used by the Ministère de l’Intérieur to determine which jobs can be regularized more easily. A government instruction to the Préfectures has recently been issued, inciting them to toughen their approach to regularisation applications, asking up to 7 years of provable stay in France in order to grant it. This government order does not change in any way the current regularisation system through jobs under shortage.

One can expect, going from there, if the governement’s stance remains unchanged, that on the one hand, rules for regularisation will likely be toughened even more, and on the other hand, that they will willingly leave a door open for “simplified” régularisation through jobs in shortage. This can only be done through more regular updates of the list for these jobs, and better framing, possibly through executive orders or even the law, of the rules applicable to regularisation. All of this in a context where the law now forbids renewal of a 1 year residence permit more than 3 times, and where practice shows it has never been easier for a foreigner to lose the benefit of his/her residence permit.