Jobs in the Arcachon basin: housing, salary, hours... It's still difficult to recruit for the summer season.

In the Arcachon Bay, seasonal workers and employers are struggling to find each other. Between a lack of housing, high standards, and a shortage of qualified professionals, the season is off to a rocky start.

L ilia Ghrairé, who lives in Bordeaux, has been looking for a seasonal position in the Arcachon basin for over a month. And she has one major constraint: "Housing." This need for housing is a constant among candidates . Jérémie Roumailhac has been looking for work since the beginning of March and finds that "it's complicated," precisely because of the accommodation. A situation he had already experienced last year, not finding a summer job until mid-June.

"Three out of four people want to be housed," notes Maïly Latappy, who works at the Arobase intérim agency. Moreover, according to her, "the lack of housing options for seasonal workers in the Arcachon basin is a major obstacle to recruitment."

A finding also shared by recruiters. "We can no longer accommodate employees," confides a member of the team at Club Paradiso, a bar in Moulleau, Arcachon. Philippe Anquetil, general secretary of the CFDT Gironde, confirms this trend: "Before, we could accommodate in campsites; now, they favor tourists."

The same story is true at the departmental level. According to Laurent Tournier, president of the Union of Hotel Trades and Industries (UMIH) in Gironde, between 2,000 and 2,500 seasonal positions remained vacant in 2024 in the hotel and restaurant sector. Housing is to blame, again. A study by the Arcachon Basin-Val de l'Eyre region published in February 2024 indicates that 82% of the companies surveyed identified accommodation as the number one obstacle to hiring seasonal workers.

“Before, we could stay in campsites, now they prefer tourists.”

Some communities are therefore attempting to find solutions. In Lège-Cap-Ferret, a campsite has been reopened specifically to house seasonal workers at moderate rents, offering around a hundred spaces. And a seasonal workers' center has been operating since last summer in Arès. A more ambitious project is underway in La Teste-de-Buch, where a 650-bed residence for seasonal workers is due to open by this summer, led by the Pichet group. But these initiatives are still insufficient to meet demand.

Benoît Mazerolles of Pique-Nique du Bassin, who was looking for seasonal workers from December to early April, took on three employees from the previous year and hired two new ones. While last year had already posed a problem, their recruitment criteria haven't changed. Labor costs are also a limiting factor, says Mazerolles, who only found one cook for the evening because "it costs too much (€2,500 per month)" to hire one for lunch as well. Faced with this shortage, managers sometimes find themselves forced to return to the kitchen.

It's also harder to find candidates for certain positions. It's particularly difficult to find candidates in the kitchen or at the bar because they require specific skills. Despite this, some establishments, such as Club Paradiso, remain open to supporting young beginners: "We're willing to train, but candidates need to be motivated."

Temporary employment agencies are at the forefront of these tensions. They're seeing many seasonal workers sign up, while companies are also looking for staff. However, Maïly Latappy observes another phenomenon: "Many people don't follow up and then become unreachable." Furthermore, the supply/demand balance is sometimes reversed: "Before, companies set the requirements; now it's the opposite; seasonal workers set the conditions." She states that the latter have extremely high demands, particularly in terms of salaries and working hours.

"Many young people no longer want to work weekends or evenings."

On the employers' side, the findings are bitter. At La P'tite Maison Lège, they lament that seasonal workers "think they're kings." This company actually prefers to recruit local young people, finding them more easily through a Facebook ad, and this also avoids certain constraints, particularly regarding accommodation.

Finally, employers are noting a shift in profiles. "Many young people no longer want to work weekends or evenings," notes Benoît Mazerolles. A sentiment shared at Club Paradiso: "They think they have all the rights, so they leave you in the middle of the season." Between employers and employees, interests are not always the same. A timeless story...