The recruitment of apple pickers is in full swing at the moment in Corrèze and Haute-Vienne. The traditional Point Pommes de Pôle Emploi opens this Thursday in Brive. It has been open since August 16 in Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche. 3,000 pickers are needed in the Pommes du Limousin appellation area between Haute-Vienne and Corrèze.
“It’s difficult to make the French work” Annick Maligne, producer in Corrèze
But this recruitment always becomes more and more difficult explains Annick Maligne, producer in Saint-Pardoux-Corbier near Pompadour. “For us it’s a big problem. We spend the whole summer to find out if we will have enough people. Fortunately, every year she can count on a group of retirees from the surrounding area who come to pick at her house. But it hardly counts on any other local workforce. “It’s difficult to make the Frenchman work. He comes. He stays two days, even two hours sometimes. And then he leaves”. So it is increasingly obliged to resort to foreign labour. For the past 5 years, it has hired mainly Romanians sent to him by specialized agents. But without ever knowing if it will have enough people.
Two recruitment forums
As every year, Pôle Emploi is mobilizing to participate in this recruitment. In addition to the Apple Points open at the Brive branch for Corrèze and at the Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche branch for Haute-Vienne, two recruitment forums are organised. The first will take place on August 30 in Objat, the second on August 31 in Limoges. Apple picking should begin around September 10.
Point Pommes Brive: 05 55 92 12 51
Point Apples Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche: 07 88 44 22 75