The OECD released its flagship International Migration Outlook 2025 on 3 November, featuring a dedicated chapter on France that paints a mixed picture. While France admitted 301,000 new permanent migrants in 2024 (-2 % year-on-year), labour-market outcomes improved: 67 % of recent arrivals held jobs after five years, up from 61 % in 2019. The report credits the ‘immigration choisie’ reforms—including streamlined Talent Passports and reduced salary thresholds—for attracting more STEM professionals.
Yet the OECD also warns of looming shortages: France may face a 1.1 million-worker gap in health and digital sectors by 2030 if inflows do not keep pace with retirements. An OECD skills-match index shows that 37 % of highly educated immigrants are still employed below their qualification level.
![OECD Migration Outlook Highlights France’s Talent Gaps and Tighter Language Rules]()
Language policy remains a stumbling block. From January 2025, France tied residence-permit renewals to French proficiency, with B1/B2 required for ten-year cards and C1/C2 for citizenship. The OECD notes the risk that up to 60,000 migrants could fall out of legal status—echoing concerns raised by NGOs—unless language-training capacity expands quickly.
For employers, the message is clear: sponsorship pipelines must widen beyond the EU Blue Card to include newly simplified Talent Passport sub-categories. Multinationals are advised to bundle language-learning budgets into relocation packages and to explore regional labour pools (e.g., North Africa, Western Balkans) where French is already widely spoken.
The government has welcomed the OECD’s ‘constructive recommendations’ and hinted at tax incentives for companies that co-fund language instruction. Parliament will debate a follow-up bill in early 2026, potentially granting 12-month grace periods for workers who miss the language threshold but remain in continuous employment.
Yet the OECD also warns of looming shortages: France may face a 1.1 million-worker gap in health and digital sectors by 2030 if inflows do not keep pace with retirements. An OECD skills-match index shows that 37 % of highly educated immigrants are still employed below their qualification level.
Language policy remains a stumbling block. From January 2025, France tied residence-permit renewals to French proficiency, with B1/B2 required for ten-year cards and C1/C2 for citizenship. The OECD notes the risk that up to 60,000 migrants could fall out of legal status—echoing concerns raised by NGOs—unless language-training capacity expands quickly.
For employers, the message is clear: sponsorship pipelines must widen beyond the EU Blue Card to include newly simplified Talent Passport sub-categories. Multinationals are advised to bundle language-learning budgets into relocation packages and to explore regional labour pools (e.g., North Africa, Western Balkans) where French is already widely spoken.
The government has welcomed the OECD’s ‘constructive recommendations’ and hinted at tax incentives for companies that co-fund language instruction. Parliament will debate a follow-up bill in early 2026, potentially granting 12-month grace periods for workers who miss the language threshold but remain in continuous employment.
