Amiens

Amiens is a town and municipality of 136 000 people (2008) in the department of Somme in northeast France. It is strategically situated at the crossroads of European communication routes, two hours from London and Amsterdam- and less than one hour and a half from Paris. Amiens can benefit from its position at the heart of a key European region. The local economy suffered from the massive closure of manufacturing industries in the late 70’s but industry and agriculture are still important sectors of the city economy. However, these sectors lack the dynamism to ensure the necessary level of job creation. As a consequence, the employment rate (38%) is quite low as well as the number of people without qualifications, which is 11,5% in Amiens against 6,5% in France. Women, especially young women, are more likely to be affected by this situation because of the weakness of the services sector which usually employs the majority of the female workforce.  However, the services sector accounts for 66% of jobs in Amiens, which is lower than the national average. The diverse nature of the habitat is an obstacle as well. Nevertheless, since 2002 the progressive expansion of the services sector has allowed the start up of a higher number of women lead businesses.