French executives and managers fleeing the rat race in Paris?

A report published at the end of August by Cadremploi has suggested that more and more executives and senior management based in the Ile-de-France are considering leaving the French capital. The Cadremploi report reveals that a majority of executives and senior managers living in Paris and the Île-de-France are dissatisfied with their position in life and are giving serious consideration to leaving the capital region for a provincial city. Bordeaux is the most favoured destination for those fleeing Paris to move to other cities, according to the survey which was conducted from July 12 to 14 among 1,786 candidates registered on the job search site.

Executives living in the suburbs are the most dissatisfied

84% of executives in the Paris region say they are ready to leave Paris, with 70% of them intending to leave in the next three years. These figures are a reflection of their ever-increasing dissatisfaction: 55% of them declare themselves dissatisfied with their current life. Their main complaints include the cost of living (77%), travel time (56%), lack of proximity to nature (54%), environmental degradation (48%) and housing problems (48%).

It should also be noted that the most disgruntled executives are those who live and work in the suburbs, as these people represent 57% of all the dissatisfied executives while only accounting for 33% of the total sample of respondents.

Executives who are think about changing cities have even stated that they are ready to make sacrifices to achieve this with 56% of the unhappy executives ready to resign from their current position, 48% say that they would be happy to change their profession, and 47% are even considering a reduction in salary!

Bordeaux the dream destination?

The Ile-de-France executives who plan to leave the Paris region are looking for a better living environment (90%). For 65% of them, mobility would also be an opportunity to better reconcile their work and personal life.

Among the cities under consideration for a fresh start, Bordeaux remains, by far, the most popular destination with 56% of respondents putting it at the top of the list of cities where they would like to live. The next popular destinations are Nantes and Lyon (41%), followed by Toulouse (30%) and Montpellier (28%). Conversely, the least sought after cities are Metz and Saint-Etienne (3%).