At the end of 2020, 28.2 million people were in employment in France, 25.2 million of whom were in salaried employment. Salaried employment fell by 296,000 as a result of the health crisis. Job losses in the private sector occurred on a much smaller scale than losses of activity: the temporary lay-offs scheme, which was significantly enhanced from March 2020 onwards, allowed many companies to retain their employees. As a result, the hours worked per job have fallen sharply.

In 2020, fixed-term employment and part-time work fell, while qualifications for jobs continued to increase. This is a reflection of the fact, in particular, that the most precarious and low-skilled jobs have been the hardest hit by the health crisis, rather than a structural improvement in the quality of jobs.

In 2020, job search efforts were limited by restrictions on certain activities, so that unemployment as defined by the ILO decreased, and the halo of unemployment increased. Overall, when unemployment and the halo are combined, the proportion of persons aged 15 to 64 who are unemployed and looking for work increased by 0.4 points to reach 10.3%.

As a result of the simultaneous drop in employment and unemployment and the fact that people in the halo are considered to be inactive, the activity rate fell by 0.7 points when compared with 2019. The activity rate for those aged between 15 and 49 actually fell by 1.0 point, while the figure for 50 to 64-year-olds remained the same.

In 2020, the average per capita wage fell in the private sector and increased in the public sector. In the private sector, the indemnities due to massive use of temporary lay-offs scheme have largely replaced wages. However, the hourly labour cost index rose rapidly in 2020: wages fell at a slower rate than hours, thereby increasing the hourly wage and with it the hourly labour cost.