Restaurateur Alexandre Thiebaut in Le Pouliguen, Loire-Atlantique, offers free apartments to recruit seasonal staff amidst a severe summer housing shortage. A report by TF1 showed that last year, one quarter of seasonal workers in France could not find lodging near their workplace.
Thiebaut said that having a stable kitchen team was very complicated from June until early July while he urgently searched for two cooks. He stepped into the kitchen himself to relieve his staff so they could take their days off.
Relief came when Thiebaut hired experienced cook Ramanan Mahes by offering him a free apartment. Thiebaut owns three apartments in the same building reserved for seasonal workers, stating that without a roof there is no job. He noted that the business generates more than 40 percent of its turnover in July and August when extra staff is essential. Mahes confirmed that he would not have taken the job without provided housing.
Campsite village in La Baule-Escoublac
In the neighbouring municipality of La Baule-Escoublac, housing is virtually unavailable during the summer as secondary residences fill up and vacationers take up tourist lodgings. Three years ago, the city converted its municipal campsite into a dedicated village for seasonal workers, offering stay options in bungalows or small houses alongside a laundry facility and an improvised pétanque court.
Seasonal worker Jeremay Jaclard said living at the site makes meeting people easier as residents share facilities and communicate well. Only two such campsites exist in France, and all 100 housing units in La Baule-Escoublac are occupied. The town hall rents the units directly to employers for between 350 and 500 euros per month, with workers paying an average of 15 percent of the rent.
E-foiling instructor Medhi Bouvet said he appreciated that workers from all sectors mix together rather than being fenced off at the back of a campsite.
Employer investments and national demand
At the Gulf Stream restaurant in La Baule-Escoublac, seasonal worker Mélissa Ifrene stays in an equipped bungalow and rides her bicycle eight minutes to her evening shift. The restaurant houses 11 of its seasonal employees, spending 10,000 euros for the summer season.
Gulf Stream manager Justine Dosso estimated that the expenditure is largely profitable because seasonal workers return the effort. She noted that hiring local youth living with grandparents often yields candidates without relevant experience. Nationwide, the Court of Auditors estimated that 400,000 seasonal workers require housing near their workplace.
