Managers and blue-collar workers: the two main drivers for employment in the territories

The proportion of employment held by managers and white-collar professions has doubled over the past thirty years, reaching 17.5% of the active in 2014 in mainland France. That of blue-collar workers, too, has risen, increasing from 8.3% in 1982 to 12.9% in 2014. With industry receding, blue-collar workers account for only 8.4% of all jobs, or two times less than in 1982. The growth in management and white-collar jobs and in blue-collar jobs can be seen as much in large as in small municipalities, while the elimination of blue-collar manual-worker jobs is a particularly strong trend in large cities, where industry is giving way to the service sector.