The hairdressing sector, a changing sector?

The hairdressing industry is experiencing a staff shortage of around 15 to 20%. The expectations of professionals have evolved, which is leading to significant changes in the sector. Read also: How to become a firefighter?

For several years, the hairdressing industry has been losing its workforce

The hairdressing sector, which has more than 98,000 establishments in France, is seeing its workforce decline. In 10 years, the sector has lost 7.6% of assets. Since 2007, there has also been a 27% drop in the number of apprentices. A decline which can be explained in particular by the apprenticeship reform of 2013. This slowed down training aid granted to companies. In addition, a decree limiting the number of apprentices per salon was still in force. Since the end of August 2021, this decree is no longer valid. It is now possible for a qualified person to supervise two future employees. However, at the start of the 2021 school year, few candidates are present in the salons and 10,000 positions remain to be filled. The health crisis has not helped the situation; the level of activity has not yet returned to that before. Salons are particularly hampered by the lack of family events such as baptisms or weddings. Despite the aid put in place by the State in 2020 (solidarity fund, partial unemployment, state-guaranteed loan, etc.), confinements and curfews due to the health crisis caused a drop of 19.5% in turnover of the sector. When the salons reopened on May 11, 2020, there were only 3 weeks of high attendance. Then, other habits were established for both professionals and customers. Read also: How to simply organize your corporate event with Spotlag?

New habits are emerging in the sector

For several years, the hairdressing sector has undergone significant changes. A phenomenon which has therefore increased since the health crisis of 2020. The shortage of staff is considerable, estimated at between 15 and 20% at present. There are many factors behind such disenchantment with this sector. Restrictive hours, physical arduousness, unattractive salaries... it's difficult to make young people want to apply. Especially since the expectations of professionals have changed. With confinements and curfews, employees have become accustomed to their new pace of life allowing them to enjoy their families. Like the catering professions, hairdressers have sometimes chosen to no longer work in order to avoid the restrictive working hours of the profession. Those who leave salons do not always leave their job as hairdressers. They adapt their job to their life by setting up their own business as a hairdresser at home or as a freelancer, for example. The generalization of teleworking has also led to new behaviors among customers. Since teleworking is less conducive to regular maintenance of one's hairstyle, new habits have been established, such as spacing out appointments. However, you must not fall into certain traps and find yourself in a shortage of hairdressers within a few years. This is why several solutions are emerging to deal with this lack of personnel. Read also: How to become a police officer?

How to become a hairdresser? Video Explanations

Several solutions are emerging to compensate for the lack of personnel

Solutions coming from the State and, sometimes, directly from hairdressers. There is, for example, a real desire in the sector to increase salaries but this would lead to an increase in social security contributions. However, it is not possible to pass this increase on to the price of hairstyles because the purchasing power of customers is not extensible. The most plausible solution would be a reduction in VAT, thus making it possible to compensate for this salary increase. The UNEC (National Union of Hairdressing Companies) is already calling for a reduction in this (from 20 to 10%). Strengthening aid for apprenticeship training initiated by the State in 2020 with the “1 young person, 1 solution” plan is also solid support to be taken into account for trade fairs. Local initiatives are also starting to emerge. For example, in Strasbourg, a salon now closes its doors on Saturday and opens them on Monday. This initiative allows current employees to have their weekend at their disposal but it has also made it possible to recruit. Since the announcement of the new hours of this show, around ten applications have reached the manager, one of which was accepted. Despite these difficulties in recruiting staff, the profession of hairdresser still arouses desire. As the communications manager of the Silvya Terrade hairdressing and CFA school, which offers comprehensive training (Bac PRO, CAP and Brevet), “hairdressing is a sector of the future which offers, in the long term, varied and enriching professional experiences”. This profession, with its role of strong social bond, allows you to move from one industry to another (tourism, cinema) but also to set out to become your own boss. Read also: How to become an independent sales agent?

Hairdressers without a diploma with official salons?

The hairdressing salon whose hairdressers have no diploma in the field and are in fact construction workers must be closed. Pau Court, Monday June 14

— Legal Curiosities (@CJuridiques) June 16, 2021