This Wednesday, November 15, Guillaume Pellegrin, founding president of Newton Offices, Katia Fiorentino, partner at the Stan firm, Georges Maregiano, national director of the ETI KPMG France market, and Gaël Sliman, president of Odoxa, presented the very first edition of the ‘Observatory of Metropolises. They wanted to understand the perception of French employees and managers regarding the attractiveness of French metropolises. We were there, we’ll explain everything to you!
Through this survey, the Metropolis Observatory wanted to understand what makes territories attractive in the eyes of the actors who invest and work there. Thus, Stan and Newton Offices are launching the Metropolis Observatory for the first time: a major survey carried out by Odoxa and commented on by KMPG.
“Beyond the numerical data and indicators that already exist elsewhere, we are convinced that it is key to focus on the perception of the economic players in each of the metropolises, who are the first to be affected by these issues. The first edition of our Observatory of Metropolises, launched with Newton Offices, is rich in lessons and reserves some surprises which challenge certain preconceived ideas”, explains Katia Fiorentino.
The survey methodology
To carry out this survey, the Observatory collected a sample of employees interviewed via the Internet from September 6 to 28, 2023, as well as a sample of business leaders interviewed by telephone from August 31 to September 26 of the same year. This still represents 1,085 employees and 312 business leaders. The list of the most attractive metropolises is produced using different criteria such as mobility, real estate, the environment, economic dynamism, quality of life and even human capital. Twelve of the largest metropolises in terms of number of inhabitants were analyzed in order to shed light on the motivations of companies and those of employees to settle in a metropolis.
“ This observatory constitutes a first in the world of studies and represents a valuable management tool for all stakeholders: both for companies considering geographic mobility, and for employees likely to ask their employers to settle in another city… and obviously, for the metropolises themselves wishing to attract one and the other. This tool provides both the targeting, the resources, the brakes and the levers likely to better convince and understand what is at work in this area. », underlines Gaël Sliman.
The results of the Metropolis Observatory
The main lessons from this study are as follows: almost three quarters of employees are ready to settle in another metropolis. The southern metropolises, and more particularly Bordeaux, are perceived as the most attractive by employees and businesses alike. And finally, quality of life and the environment are the two main criteria for choosing a metropolis, even before economic criteria.
What do business leaders think?
First lesson from this study, all metropolises are considered attractive by a majority of managers, around 2/3. Indeed, regarding the attractiveness of French metropolises, all had 50% favorable responses or more.
The podium is made up of the metropolis of Lille (79%), followed closely by that of Lyon (80%) and Bordeaux at the top of the ranking with 82%.
What do employees think?
Employees, for their part, judge most metropolises to be attractive and largely share the preferences of companies. They also place Bordeaux in the lead, accompanied this time by the metropolis of Toulouse and Montpellier. If we thought that the French were reluctant to be mobile, well that’s not true! And for good reason, 74% of employees say they are ready to settle in one of the twelve metropolises tested if a professional opportunity presented itself. Indeed, if a boost in salary or position made this decision easier, in fact, almost half of the respondents declared that they could apply for an unconditional departure. In addition, more than 6 out of 10 young people and residents of the Paris metropolitan area would volunteer in this same configuration.
What explains these results?
In reality, what is important to understand are the different criteria that matter most to employees in order to choose a metropolis. Firstly, we find quality of life, then the environment and finally real estate. The call of the south and the search for a metropolis on a human scale therefore takes on its full meaning. Conversely, the economic dynamism of a metropolis is a much less important criterion for employees. It is on this same criterion that metropolises like Paris and Lyon are perceived as the most efficient.
Business leaders, for their part, are surprisingly or not quite in tune with employees. Indeed, the criteria that matter most to them regarding the development of an office or the fact of relocating their office are quality of life in the first place, but just behind economic dynamism and the geographical environment.
In reality, people are the key. And for good reason, when they think about the economic dynamism and economic policy of metropolises, the main criterion for companies is human capital. By human capital, we mean here the ease of being able to recruit employees. Then come taxation and the capacity of metropolises to be able to encourage businesses to come and set up there or even the purchasing power of residents.
“We are facing a paradigm shift. Barely a decade ago, we could see a total correlation between the attractiveness of metropolises and their economic indicators. Today, other elements come to weigh up, or even modify this logic. Thus the quality of life, culture and education (…) become non-negotiable,” specifies Georges Maregiano.
What about the classification by economic sector?
If it remains unpopular and, to say the least, in the overall ranking, the metropolis of Paris conversely rises to the top of the ranking by sector. Indeed, out of the four major sectors tested, Paris ranks first 3 times out of 4, particularly for health, industry and digital. Only the metropolis of Lyon ranks ahead regarding the energy transition. Note that Lyon is systematically on the podium of the 4 sectors tested.
In reality, the ranking shows that each metropolis has its favorite subject, allowing it to compete with the two behemoths Paris and Lyon. Bordeaux on health, Nantes on the energy transition, Toulouse on industry and even Lille on digital.
In fact, all metropolises have advantages to highlight. Thus, companies prioritizing real estate tend to favor the metropolises of Paris and Lyon more often than average. On the other hand, those who focus on human capital will prefer Lille, Toulouse, Nice, Rennes or even Nantes. Finally, those who focus above all on quality of life cite a city like Bordeaux much more often.
What is the objective of the Metropolis Observatory?
Starting in January 2024, roadshows presenting the Metropolis Observatory will take place in the different metropolises. Thus, the objective will be to discuss these different results with economic decision-makers and opinion leaders.
“The results obtained validate the bet of Newton Offices whose raison d’être is to support the deployment of the economy in cities and territories. We launched this Metropolis Observatory to take the pulse of the perception of the attractiveness of each metropolis, understand the image that the French have of the country’s largest cities and shed light on their own qualities and specificities. We are therefore delighted to see a new form of decentralization” explains Guillaume Pellegrin.
