Study: Immigrant Workers Prominent in Auvergne Rhône-Alpes Construction Industry

In this study on the employment of immigrants, Insee defines an immigrant as a person born abroad and residing in France. According to 2020 data, the Auvergne Rhône-Alpes region has 586,000 immigrants, of whom 336,400 are employed, or 10% of the region’s active population. 29% of them have been living in France for about ten years, the study reveals, showing that 14% of immigrant workers in the region reside in Haute-Savoie, 13% in the Rhône, 13% in the Ain and only 2% in Haute-Loire.

41% of immigrant workers residing in the region are mainly from Africa, particularly from Morocco (10%), Algeria (13.6%), Tunisia (5%) and sub-Saharan Africa (12%). "This Maghreb immigration is facilitated by bilateral agreements on residence and work," the Insee notes, emphasizing the more recent arrival of Moroccan, Tunisian and sub-Saharan immigrant workers compared to Algerians. Immigrant workers in the region also come from Europe (40%), mainly from Portugal (12%), Italy (3.9%) and Switzerland (3.8%).

Most of them (51%) are found in the commercial tertiary sector, including low-skilled jobs such as security or cleaning, in the industrial sector (13%), or in the construction sector (11%). The majority of immigrants of Maghreb origin are workers (39%), working in