Mid-sized companies (ETI) employed 4 million people in France in 2019, i.e. one out of every four commercial jobs. Their presence is strong in the northern half of France, where they form the economic core of many employment areas.
ETI are more closely related to industry than other companies, particularly foreign ETI, which are numerous in the Grand Est and Île-de-France.

The activity of ETI is often centered around a core business, in which a majority of their employees work. Many ETI are also closely linked to a particular region, where their establishments are concentrated.

ETI gained 523,400 jobs in France by comparing the 2009 and 2019 employment inventories. This growth can be broken down into two main effects: the first, the difference between job creations and deletions (+223,200 jobs net) and the second, changes in company category due to takeovers or category threshold crossings, one way or the other (+277,400 net).

Employment growth was mainly driven by French ETI, with foreign ETI losing jobs over the period, particularly in industry.

A few large employment areas were concentrating the creation of jobs by ETI. However, small employment areas on the Atlantic coast and in the Mediterranean basin were also very dynamic. In most areas, ETI were creating jobs in presential activities. On the other hand, the disparity between territories was much more marked in the productive sphere, between old industries in decline and activities in development.
The growth in employment in the presential activities of ETI offsetted sometimes the loss of jobs in productive activities, but not always.