#EMPLOYMENT & SOCIETY
"After 55, companies don't keep anyone." Yet it's the only age group where private-sector employment is growing: +2.7% in a year, while it falls for those under 55.
Published on September 28, 2026 · to be rechecked on December 5, 2026
At the end of Q2 2026, France's private sector employed 3.97 million people aged 55 or over, 105,400 more than a year earlier. Over the same period, private-sector employment fell by 72,300 among 15-29 year-olds (−1.4%) and by 114,000 among 30-54 year-olds (−1.0%). The gap is even starker since end-2019: +703,300 employees aged 55 or over, −176,600 among 30-54 year-olds.
Are older workers the first to be pushed out of salaried jobs?
In the private sector, it's the opposite over the past year: theirs is the only employment that's growing.
In other words: the age group described as the most vulnerable is the one currently propping up private-sector employment.
Four caveats that belong with the number
- These are headcounts, not employment rates: an ageing workforce and later retirements may explain part of the rise, which the release doesn't separate out.
- An extra job isn't a new hire: the figures don't distinguish recruitment from employees simply staying in post longer.
- Among young people, the decline stems in part from fewer apprenticeships (−49,200 contracts over one year), according to INSEE.
- Older workers remain a minority: 3.97 million out of 20.96 million private-sector employees, fewer than one in five.
Why it still matters: the slowdown in salaried employment is currently playing out among the under-55s, not among older workers.
For you
- Did you think employment among older workers was falling in France?
- Do you think this rise comes from hiring or from later retirements?
Source: INSEE, quarterly employment estimates, detailed results for Q2 2026, Informations rapides No. 214, 28 August 2026.
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