Despite being in the midst of a second lockdown since early November, France’s startups continue to hire in a further sign of how the coronavirus failed to halt the digital economy.

The latest data from France Digitale, an industry group representing around 1,800 startups, shows some 140 companies are hiring, with a total of 2,150 vacancies open. 

That’s down from the 300 companies that were hiring during the first lockdown, between March and May, when France Digitale’s jobs board was first launched. At that point, 3,000 positions were available on the board. 

But it still shows that there are jobs to be had in France’s fast growing tech sector. Startups are key to France’s economy — in the fourth quarter of 2019, 94% of jobs created involving long-term contracts came from startups. 

The government has sought to bolster its support for startups, with a €4bn cash injection in March and more than 10,000 startups having received state-backed loans across the pandemic, according to the country’s digital affairs junior minister Cedric O.

Back in March, it was BackMarket, the online marketplace for refurbished goods, which had the most vacancies open, with 74. 

Today, Believe, a Paris-based music distribution company, and Mirakl, an online SaaS marketplace platform, both have 100 jobs listed each. 

Here’s who else is hiring.

Startups with the most jobs

• Believe: 100 jobs listed. 
• Mirakl: 100 jobs listed.
• Mangopay: a Paris-based company which provides payment solutions for crowdfunding sites and fintechs. It currently has 80 positions advertised. 
• Dataiku: an AI software company, based in New York but with a significant base in Paris. It currently has 80 vacancies open. 
• Dream Catcher Sales: there are currently 80 vacancies open to work in their B2B sales consultancy. 
• BackMarket: the refurbished goods online marketplace, which had the most vacancies of any company open during the first coronavirus lockdown, currently has 65 jobs advertised. 

Fintechs and SaaS

It’s fintech startups that, as a sector, have the most vacancies open. Apart from Mangopay, there’s Qonto, a Paris-based neobank for freelancers. 

There’s also Shine, another bank for freelancers, that was acquired by Société Générale in June for €100m.

SaaS (software-as-a-service) is another strong sector that continues to hire in France. Among them, there’s Nalia, which develops AI software that aims to predict which customers will leave a company’s subscription service, and Castor, an automated data service. 

The SaaS sector has done well across the globe during the pandemic, with the index that tracks relevant software companies continually outperforming the Nasdaq all year. 

Beyond the capital

Although most of France’s live vacancies are in Paris, several companies are looking for new employees elsewhere in the country.

Vizir, which develops chatbots, has positions advertised in Lyon, Rennes and Lille, for example, while Il Était Plusieurs Fois, a second hand marketplace for children’s clothing, and Octopus Mind, an open data company, both have positions open in Nantes. 

More hiring resources

• Sifted’s more extensive listing of startups across Europe that are hiring amid coronavirus.
• France Digitale’s compilation of French companies hiring.
• Station F’s focus on 11 startups on its campus that are hiring.

Freya Pratty covers news at Sifted. She has previously interned at Bloomberg and tweets from @FPratty