Who can benefit from the NFI services?
Why as the help of Nord France Invest?
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Human capital availability is often a deal-maker—or breaker—when expanding abroad. Across Europe, many regions face tight labour markets and growing competition for skilled employees, driving up costs and slowing down recruitment.
In Hauts-de-France, the situation is different. The region combines:
On top of this, through Nord France Invest and our recruitment partners like Proch’Emploi, investors gain access to tailored recruitment support that accelerates hiring while ensuring the right cultural and operational fit. This unique combination of availability, competitiveness, and stability makes Hauts-de-France one of Europe’s most reliable regions for building and scaling teams.
Number of job seekers
I am amazed by the commitment of employees at the Saint-Amand site. At every level, from the operator to the maintenance technician, from the automation engineer, to executives.
This commitment and “can do attitude” that we think is often associated with the United States, I see it everyday here in the Region.Éric MOREAU, Site Director of Saint-Armand-Les-Eaux, GSK
In Hauts-de-France, companies benefit from one of France’s largest and most qualified talent pools. With 31% of the population under 25 and nearly 6 million residents concentrated in major metropolitan areas, the region combines availability with dynamism (INSEE, 2025).
The region is also the second in France for higher education, with 230,000 students, 7 universities, and over 40 specialized schools (INSEE, 2025). Beyond numbers, training programs are co-designed with employers, ensuring a perfect match between academic output and business needs. Sectors such as manufacturing, logistics, digital, pharma, and customer service benefit from a steady flow of skilled candidates (Solucial, 2025).
This strength translates directly into investor success. International investment projects concentrate heavily in Hauts-de-France, creating thousands of jobs every year and proving that companies find and keep the right skills to grow sustainably (Business France, 2024).
+ %
of French engineers are trained in Hauts-de-France
students (9% of the national total)
+
elite graduate schools for engineering, business and other specialities
universities
Hauts-de-France is also the top-ranked region in France for post-graduate training. In addition to academic training, we have many professional entities that help employees train and retrain throughout their careers.
In Hauts-de-France, training is not an afterthought it’s a strategic asset. Facing Europe-wide labour shortages, the region and its partners have invested heavily in programs that anticipate employers’ needs and deliver sector-specific skills pipelines.
A flagship AI and systems training center, retraining candidates with 9 months of in-company practice, ensuring immediate operational capacity.
Designed to support the region’s emerging Battery Valley, this program will deliver 11,000+ training modules for gigafactories and the EV ecosystem (Prefecture, 2023).
Located within one of Europe’s most dynamic health clusters, this center prepares talent for the healthcare and well-being industries, directly responding to demand in pharma and biotech (Eurasanté, 2023).
A 5,000 m² warehouse-school welcoming 2,000 apprentices annually, strengthening the logistics backbone that serves both national and European markets (Euralogistic, 2025).
For investors, the advantage is clear: recruitment delays are reduced, turnover is minimized, and upskilling is continuous. By connecting with these specialized training programs, companies entering Hauts-de-France gain access to ready-made, industry-aligned talent pools.
Across a wide range of activities you’ll find highly educated people, and also people who are open to multicultural issues. Lille is the best example of true multiculturalism.
Julien Bahri, Managing Director, VDL Bus & Coach France
In Hauts-de-France, companies don’t face recruitment challenges alone. With the Proch’Emploi program, the Region offers a fast-track solution to match businesses with the right candidates.
This model delivers speed and security for international investors: recruitment cycles are shortened, while employee training costs are reduced thanks to public co-financing. This combination of available workforce and institutional recruitment support gives Hauts-de-France a structural advantage over competing European locations where companies often face long hiring delays and higher onboarding costs.
If your new or expanded business will create at least 100 new jobs, Nord France Invest can organize a dedicated recruitment program tailored to your needs.
To save time and accelerate hiring, we set up a special task force bringing together all relevant public stakeholders Pôle Emploi, Proch’Emploi, Maisons de l’Emploi, local agencies, and more. This coordination ensures that your priorities are understood by all partners from the very beginning.
Before the project launch, the dedicated team meets with you to align on objectives and requirements.
Needs analysis – define the profiles you are looking for and draw up job descriptions.
1
Dissemination – share job descriptions across the right networks and publish your recruiting requirements.
2
Job-dating sessions – meet and interview pre-selected candidates in dedicated spaces reserved for your recruitment.
3
According to the nature of your project, Nord France Invest can help you with recruitment.
We’ll get back to you as soon as possible to answer any questions you may have about your development project.
