Housing: seasonal workers, studios are yours

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While the difficulty of finding housing is one of the main reasons that puts off summer job applicants, more and more areas are setting up temporary housing for the season. The Court of Auditors estimates the need at 400,000 places.

A seasonal village in Arès, in the Arcachon Basin. (North Arcachon Basin Agglomeration Community)

During the day, they serve hordes of tourists. At nightfall, some of them fold up the passenger seat of their car to sleep. Every summer, the tourist postcard hides a less photogenic reality: seasonal workers struggling to find accommodation. This precariousness not only dampens workers' morale and sleep, it also puts a brake on recruitment. In the hotel, restaurant, and leisure park industries, employers are struggling to find workers due to a lack of accommodation solutions. Excessive rents and insufficient supply—in addition to the level of pay and staggered hours—continue to drive candidates away. This reality was highlighted by the Court of Auditors, which drew up an alarming inventory in a report published on July 4. The financial jurisdiction estimates that 400,000 seasonal workers need a roof over their heads.

Faced with this observation, employers and communities are tackling the problem head-on. In Nouvelle-Aquitaine, which alone has 250,000 seasonal workers, the Arcachon Basin community of communes is experimenting for the second consecutive year with a seasonal village set up in Arès. Twelve air-conditioned mobile homes accommodate around twenty workers with a cleaning service.