The personal services sector covers all of the services which contribute to improved living conditions for people, either in their own home or at their workplace. They include: family services, health-care services, services related to quality of life, housing services, and intermediate services.

The sector in french economy with the highest growth rate

 

The personal services industry employs over 1 300 000 people, and is the sector in the French economy with the highest growth rate, over the past fifteen years, in terms of the number of employees (5.5% per year since 1990). This growth rate

130, 000 jobs ceated in 2006

further increased in 2006, with the creation of approximately 130 000 new jobs. At the same time, the number of private companies in this sector has increased spectacularly; today, there are approximately 2 000 companies operating in this sector in France.
Some of these companies are now expanding globally. Several are already established in France, for example the British company Homeserve, which entered into a partnership with Veolia Environnement to remotely market urgent home assistance contracts.

For private companies, the personal services sector represents several major issues:

• The French market is growing rapidly (and will continue to do so).

• The market share of private companies, although experiencing very strong growth, still offers significant potential.

• Potential clients have a high level of financial resources, which is backed up tax incentives.

• France is internationally renowned for its standard of living and lifestyle, and remains an exceptional benchmark and showcase for any company that wishes to establish itself on a global basis in the personal services market

 
According to a study conducted by the Syndicat des Entreprises de Services à la Personne-SESP (Trade Union of Personal Service Companies), it would appear that 6 million households require this type of personal services. This latent demand has been valued at over 5.3 billion euros and represents a potential reservoir of over 300 000 equivalent full-time jobs.

This conclusion led the French government to introduce a specific development plan for this sector. After having favored the creation of large multi-service reference brand names, and created a national agency for the development of personal services in 2005, the French government has now established three objectives:

• Simplify access to these services and reduce costs by means of a reduction in social-security charges and the CESU (Universal Employment Service Check) system that employers are encouraged to co-finance due to a tax credit of 25%.

• Improve pay conditions, social rights, and training conditions for employees in this sector.

• Provide businesses in this sector with a favorable framework to develop their activities and improve the quality of their services: simplification of approval procedures; introduction of incentives to encourage quality control by independent bodies accredited by the State.

This policy is backed up by the recent European directive concerning the services industry, whose aim is to create an internal market for services by eliminating all the legal and administrative barriers which hinder the development of service activities between the Member States.