Local recruitment partners:

how Nord Fance Invest connects you ?

Choosing the right location is the key to a successful expansion. Strategically located in Western Europe, Hauts-de-France combines market access, talent, and cost efficiency. Here’s how NFI connects you with the local recruitment partners that turn workforce challenges into growth opportunities.

Published on 05.01.2026

Recruitment: a decisive factor for international investors

For international investors, recruitment is often the decisive factor that determines whether a new operation succeeds or stalls. A site is only as strong as its ability to hire the right people quickly.

In Hauts-de-France, companies benefit from both availability and competitiveness of labor. According to the OCO Global Comparative Cost Study (2025), the annual salary of a skilled operator in Dunkirk is €30,067, compared to €36,989 in Strasbourg (France), €42,797 in Düsseldorf (Germany), €44,083 in Antwerp (Belgium), and €48,639 in Rotterdam (Netherlands). This means companies not only gain access to a large talent pool, but also optimize their structural costs.

The region is also a proven magnet for job-creating investment. The Business France 2024 report confirms that Hauts-de-France ranks among the top French regions for international projects (#3) and job creation (#2), particularly in industry and logistics. Investors choose the region because they know they will find the workforce they need.

But successful recruitment isn’t just about numbers it’s about securing the right profiles at the right time. That’s why NFI connects investors with specialized local partners such as Proch’Emploi, a unique regional initiative that provides tailor-made solutions to employers and job seekers and aims to facilitate connections between them..

Together, this ecosystem ensures that companies entering Hauts-de-France can recruit efficiently, control labor costs, and ramp up operations without delay.

NFI’s HR ecosystem: connecting you to trusted partners

Recruiting in a new country can feel complex: different regulations, cultural expectations, and fragmented networks. In Hauts-de-France, NFI removes these barriers by connecting you directly with a trusted ecosystem of HR partners who know how to deliver results.

This ecosystem covers the entire recruitment chain:

France Travail offices: providing access to thousands of candidates actively seeking jobs across industry, logistics, and services.
Proch’Emploi: a local “one-stop” service that matches employers with jobseekers across the region, mobilizing a network of local partners to source candidates, pre-screen profiles, and support recruitment needs
Specialized recruiters: focusing on key sectors such as automotive, logistics, IT, and energy transition.
HR service providers, who go beyond recruitment to offer end-to-end integration solutions from temporary staffing to onboarding support for international projects.
Training institutions: ensuring the rapid upskilling of candidates through tailored programs aligned with employer needs.

By leveraging this network, investors gain:

Speed: faster time-to-hire with prequalified candidates.
Fit: better alignment between company needs and workforce skills.
Flexibility: scalable solutions for volume hiring or hard-to-fill profiles.

What sets Hauts-de-France apart is the coordination role we play. With Nord France Invest, you don’t have to navigate multiple channels on your own we become your single point of contact, connecting you with the right partners at the right moment. Our orchestration saves you time, reduces risks, and accelerates your operational readiness.

From recruitment to integration: tailored solutions for every investor

In Hauts-de-France, our recruitment support goes far beyond sourcing CVs. At NFI and our partners, we provide end-to-end HR solutions from initial staffing to training and long-term integration ensuring that international companies can scale with confidence.

Amazon, at its distribution site in Lauwin-Planque, grew from 300 to 2,500 permanent employees between 2013 and 2025, with 1,000 to 1,500 temporary workers joining the teams for the Christmas season.

Kubota launched a tractor assembly site in 12 months, supported by NFI in fast-tracking administrative authorizations and securing visas for expatriate staff.

Envision AESC invested nearly €2bn in a battery gigafactory in Douai, and has been accompanied by Nord France Invest to support project delivery—while AESC launched its first recruitments in 2022 and targets around 2,500 jobs in 2030.

What makes the difference is the combination of speed, quality, and sustainability. Thanks to training partnerships with universities, vocational schools, and local authorities, companies can co-design programs that adapt skills to their needs in advanced manufacturing, logistics, digital services, or green technologies.

The result: investors don’t just hire quickly, they build a workforce pipeline capable of evolving with their operations, securing long-term competitiveness in Europe’s fast-changing markets.

Training and upskilling:
securing tomorrow’s talent today

Recruitment alone is not enough what guarantees long-term competitiveness is the ability to continuously adapt skills to new technologies and markets. In Hauts-de-France, this is where training and upskilling initiatives play a decisive role.

The region invests heavily in human capital:

Nearly 230,000 students, 7 universities, and 40+ specialized higher education institutions form one of France’s most dynamic academic ecosystems (INSEE, 2025)
Since 2018, the region has run the “Training in Higher Education” scheme, an ambitious continuing education program co-designed with 11 local institutions to match workforce skills with employer needs.
Nearly 20% of the population has completed higher education at Associate’s degree level or above (INSEE, 2025), supplying companies with qualified technicians, engineers, and specialists.
10% of France’s engineers are trained in the region (MESRI, 2020).

This strong base is enhanced by sector-specific programs created in direct collaboration with employers. Whether in battery manufacturing, logistics & supply chain, or digital transformation, training centers design custom curricula to ensure companies can recruit people who are job-ready from day one.

For international investors, this means they don’t just access a large labor pool, but also an adaptable workforce that evolves with their industry. In a market where talent is the new competitive edge, Hauts-de-France offers the skills pipeline to sustain growth over time.

Turning workforce challenges into growth opportunities

In today’s global economy, the availability and adaptability of talent can make or break an investment project. In Hauts-de-France, you gain more than access to one of Europe’s largest labor pools you benefit from a fully connected ecosystem where recruitment partners, training providers, and institutions collaborate to secure your success.

With NFI by your side, every step of your HR journey is simplified: from fast-track recruitment to custom training programs and long-term integration. This support transforms workforce challenges into strategic advantages, giving your company the capacity to scale and compete in the European market.

The opportunity is here. The partners are ready. The only question is how fast you’ll seize it.

Contact Nord France Invest today and connect with the recruitment ecosystem that will power your growth in Hauts-de-France.