Insee Première · September 2022 · n° 1924

During the summer peak, almost 800 000 posts of work were filled by seasonal workers

In France excluding Mayotte, seasonal employment, intended to respond to a local and temporary increase in economic activity, accounted for more than 4 million posts of work in 2017, i.e. 11% of the private sector work positions, but only 1.4% in full-time equivalent terms. Taken as a whole, seasonal posts were concentrated in the summer period but, at the level of a business sector or territory, the use of seasonal labour fluctuated throughout the year. One in two seasonal post of work was a temporary contract. Excluding temporary employment, accommodation and food services and arts and entertainment activities accounted for a large proportion of seasonal employment. However, the agricultural sector made proportionately the most use of this form of employment. On a local scale, this sectoral diversity is amplified: winter or summer tourism, harvesting, television film productions, etc. This type of work position, which employs 2.5 million people, 15% of whom work outside their region of residence, offered particular conditions of employment: short contracts and generally low qualifications.