Every quarter, Apec publishes a barometer on executive hiring in France. For a finance candidate, this data is useful as long as you know what it measures, and above all what it does not. Here is a critical reading of Apec's recent publications and what they imply for your search.
Context and key facts
Apec 🔗 (the French association for executive employment) regularly surveys companies and managers. Its 2026 publications show a cautious trend:
- Q1 2026: executive hiring had barely grown in 2025, and large organisations' hiring intentions were slightly up (51% versus 48% a year earlier).
- Q2 2026: according to the Q2 barometer 🔗, the share of companies able to forecast their activity three months ahead fell by 7 points since December 2025 (57% versus 64%).
- Q3 2026: the study titled "wait-and-see takes hold" describes recruiters waiting for more visibility before committing.
⚠️ Warning: these barometers cover all executives across all sectors. They are not finance statistics. Do not draw direct conclusions about investment banking or management control.
What it changes for candidates
A wait-and-see market is not a closed market. It means hiring decisions are slower and more selective, and recruiters ask for more proof before committing.
- Processes get longer. Expect several weeks between interviews and keep several leads open.
- Trade-offs favour immediately useful profiles. A candidate whose CV shows quantified results beats one describing tasks.
- Replacements outrank new positions. Replacements and urgent needs come before expansion projects.
💡 Go further: our analysis of job market trends in finance places these signals in the context of banking and corporate finance.
Sectors and jobs concerned
For banking and insurance, the latest Apec sector focus 🔗 we could consult covers 2018-2023. It indicates the sector accounts for about 9% of executives in post and exceeded 26,000 hires in 2022. It is a structural reference point, not a 2026 snapshot.
What can be said about jobs without inventing numbers:
- Control, risk and compliance functions remain job families with structural needs because of regulation.
- Markets and investment banking follow deal activity, so react faster to uncertainty.
- Corporate finance (management control, treasury, consolidation) depends on employers' health across all sectors.
For pay by job family, see the source cited in our article on finance and investment banking salaries.
Figures to remember
- 57% versus 64%: the share of companies able to forecast activity three months ahead, per the Q2 2026 barometer. It is a visibility indicator, not a hiring one.
- 51% versus 48%: large organisations' hiring intentions in Q1 2026, according to Apec.
- About 9%: banking and insurance's share of executives in post, per the 2018-2023 sector focus.
Keep three limits in mind: these figures are declarative, they mix all sectors and they are already several months old.
How to adapt your application
- Quantify your results. It is the best antidote to wait-and-see: see our advice on results-oriented bullets.
- Target control and risk functions broadly if your profile fits.
- Follow up. In a slow market, a polite reminder after two weeks bothers no one.
- Keep a ready-to-send CV. FinanceCV handles layout and produces an ATS-compatible document: you can tailor the content to each offer in minutes without worrying about form.
- Use official sources. Read a barometer with its method: sample size, scope, survey date.
Outlook for the coming months
The next barometer will show whether the wait-and-see mood persists or visibility returns. Watch three indicators: the share of companies forecasting their activity, large organisations' hiring intentions and the number of published offers. Always cross these signals with what you see on the ground, from recruiters and your network.
Reading a barometer without being misled: five reflexes
A barometer is a decision tool for you provided you read it methodically. Here are the reflexes to adopt before changing strategy on the strength of one figure.
- Look at who is surveyed. Companies or managers, large organisations or all sizes: an indicator on large organisations may say nothing about an SME.
- Look at what is measured. Hiring intentions are not completed hires. A share of companies forecasting their activity is not a volume of offers.
- Look at the survey date. A March survey published in May describes a March mood. Conditions may have changed since.
- Compare with the field. How many offers do you see in your job? What response times? Your own observation is one more indicator.
- Don't confuse average and particular case. A flat executive market can hide dynamic segments, for example compliance, risk or control.
An example of applied reading for management control
Suppose you aim for a management controller position. General wait-and-see can mean frozen hiring budgets, but the function remains central in a company: it is replaced when it falls vacant. Your job is to spot departures and urgent needs, position yourself fast with a ready file, and show you are operational. Our management controller CV example shows how to do that on one page.
What you cannot conclude from a general barometer
- Neither a salary: for that, consult pay studies by job family.
- Nor a volume of finance offers: that would need a count by job, which these barometers do not provide.
- Nor a hiring lead time: the length of a process depends on the employer.
The right use is to treat the barometer as a weather report, not a flight plan. It indicates a climate; your search remains a matter of method, network and application quality.
Frequently asked questions
Does the Apec barometer say whether finance is hiring? Not directly. It covers all executives. For finance, cross it with offers published in your job and with what specialist recruiters say.
Should I delay an application when wait-and-see dominates? No. Replacement positions and urgent needs open throughout the year. A ready file lets you seize these opportunities.
Where can I find more precise data on my job? Apec's job sheets and sector studies, specialist recruitment firms' publications and the offers themselves are the best sources.
How often should I read it? A glance at each quarterly publication is enough. Most of your time should go to your file and your applications.
Sources
- Apec: executive hiring in Q3 2026 🔗
- Apec: Q2 2026 barometer (press release) 🔗
- Apec: banking and insurance sector focus 🔗
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