Against the massive fall in agricultural employment, industry now represents a major part of the employment in non-urban areas. In addition, it is now appropriate to distinguish a periurban/rural space under the influence of an autonomous-rural space. In the first one, the quite favourable development of employment may be explained by a transfer of activities from the urban areas penalized by the existence of congestion. In the second one, the dynamism attached to certain sectors (agrifood industries, construction…) may be explained by the presence of assets specific to that type of space, the first among which is a “skilled” workforce.