Forestry industry recruits worldwide

The red line is for those intended for cutting. “Buff” (dark orange) circle for those who remain. This Monday morning, Martin Oswald, with pots of paint and brushes in his hands, must “hammer” section 32 of the forest of Saint-Apolline. The goal of the technical specialist of the National Forestry Office of Yvelin: to demarcate the land promised for sale and mark the oak trees that loggers will be allowed to cut down next year.

A morning that well sums up the core mission of forestry professionals: ensuring its regeneration by preserving the most beautiful trees and supplying the forest industry, sawmills, carpenters, coopers and other paper mills.

From seed to packaging, the French forestry sector has 378,000 full-time jobs, or 1.4% of the active population, according to the interprofessional association France Bois Forêt. And what diversity there is within this group of no less than 23 professional organizations!

Foresters are divided into several groups: foresters (experts, technicians, forest managers, operators), who plant, select species, care for, thin out, maintain biodiversity and shape the forest of the future; forestry contractors (loggers, skidders, timber haulers, etc.) who cut, fell and harvest trees. Finally, forest users who sell wood buy it “on the ground” from the owners and resell it to primary processing enterprises (sawmill, paper mill, firewood).

All this is done either within the ONF, which manages state forests, the largest employer in the sector with its 9,100 employees, or through forestry cooperatives or forestry companies, of which there are many in France.

“Very few of the 3.5 million private owners manage their forests themselves,” explains Richard Emeiriat, forestry consultant at Forêt Logistique Conseil. This sector, which is very fragmented, is made up of 80% of businesses with fewer than 10 employees.

A young graduate will start with 2300-2500 euros per month.

FranceBoisforêt has 60,000 companies in the sector, a third of which are involved in forestry. “You can easily become your own boss,” emphasizes Mylène Gabare of Apecita, the equivalent of Apec (Executive Employment Agency) for the agricultural world. And the opening positions are for young people with CAPA or BT, as well as for BTS holders or students who have completed basic school.”

The sector is hiring in all areas. Forestry workers (from the minimum wage to 2,000 euros per month), lumberjacks and machine operators (from 1,800 to 2,300 euros) are in great demand. “In 2019, 13% of logging companies encountered difficulties in recruiting staff,” we emphasize in Franceboisforêt. But profiles of experts and engineers are also popular.

The large Agroparistech school in Nancy, which teaches forestry management, receives 10 to 20 job offers from the Association every week for interaction between foresters. A young graduate will start his career with a salary of 2300 – 2500 euros per month.

“We are seeing a growing attractiveness for the use of wood in construction,” analyzes Arnaud Godeven, director of the Ecole Supérieure de Forest (ESB), which trains engineers in the fields of construction, furniture and green chemistry. A sign of the times: the future Olympic village in Plaine Saint-Denis will be built primarily from wood.

Local authorities and the private sector are attracted to this environmentally friendly material, which is 100% renewable and naturally renewable. “Environmental issues are shifting boundaries. Wood helps clean up the planet,” sums up Arnaud Godeven, who noted a 30% increase in applications for the ESB competition in 2019 and 2020.

“Offers are coming from all over France, even from abroad, but the demand is not being met,” says Myriam Legai, director of Agroparistech. France still uses graduates from Belgium and Germany.” Finally, Mylène Gabare emphasizes, “most positions are long-term jobs.”

What research should I do?

To become a laborer, machine operator or forestry technician, you can choose an agricultural CAP in forestry work or a BPA in forestry work (specialties in forestry, logging, driving forestry machines). You can then continue your studies with a Bac pro Forestry, Bac STAV (Science and Technology in Agronomy and Life) or a Professional Certificate (BP) for Forestry Manager.

To become a forestry contractor, you can aim to obtain a BTSA in forest management or a technical and commercial BTSA specializing in forestry/timber products. There is also a professional license to develop, manage and market wood products.

If you aspire to a career in engineering, you need to apply to several large schools, very popular in this sector: AgroParisTech (in Nancy) or Bordeaux Sciences Agro for forest management, Ecole Supérieur du Bois (ESB) in Nantes, ENSTIB in Epinal, Ensamp Cluny, Ecam Bourg-en-Bresse, the Pourpan engineering school in Toulouse or Enise Saint-Etienne. You can also pursue a master’s degree in forest management.