Professional career paths are far from being open to workers in unskilled jobs. Promotions, which are rare, increasingly occur via a change of employer and periods of unemployment are frequent. This lack of professional visibility confirms recent sociological studies which highlight the lack of prospects felt by these workers despite the real opportunities for development for young graduates and men.Workers who remain in the same company increasingly stay in their unskilled position. Lesser qualified women and older workers are more likely to remain in jobs which are relatively stable, but which offer very few prospects. This is notably the case for nursery assistants, service agents or maintenance workers.