Private sector employees fled the big cities during the health crisis

To live happily, live… green? Telework and the health crisis have indeed led tens of thousands of employees to leave the big cities to settle in the countryside. A study by the Ministry of Labor confirms this. It was conducted on private sector employees between April 2020 and 2021.Departures from Paris for destinations more than 100 kilometers away increased by 34%, or 4,000 additional moves in one year. During this same period, arrivals fell by 12%

However, city dwellers generally move within 100 kilometers of their homes, to the outskirts of large cities. In the United States, where this urban exodus is also observed, economists speak of the “donut effect”: city centers are emptying out and, at the same time, nearby medium-sized towns are becoming denser. In France, notaries notice the same movement, underlines the Direction of the animation of research, studies and statistics (Dares), which publishes this study.

7% of companies experiencing recruitment difficulties attribute it directly to the fact that their employees have moved. 30% of them have adapted their organization by offering more teleworking. Because thehe vast majority of city dwellers who moved during the health crisis have a job where teleworking is possible (administrative services, accounting, finance, IT, banking and insurance). They contribute to two-thirds of the increase in departures from metropolitan areas to settle more than 100 kilometers away.

Another figure: half of the increase in moves to a rural department is attributed to these employees who work remotely. The Covid-19 crisis has accelerated this trend, but this phenomenon already existed in the five largest urban metropolises in France: employees tend to settle in the ring of town centres.