The 2008-2009 recession severely hit the French economy and has generated considerable debate about the “new” spatial dynamics of employment. Over the previous decades, the French economic space had experienced more balanced regional development due to a combination of factors: it is now well documented that economic restructuring, access to skills, the growing importance of amenities, and planning strategies had all contributed to reduce some persistent economic divides, especially between Paris region and the rest of France, the “French desert”. In this paper, we analyse how employment growth has been affected by the recession by comparing its geography across two periods, 1999-2007 (pre-recession) and 2007-2012 (recession and post-recession). We explore whether employment growth during the crisis followed the same spatial pattern (and was connected with similar local factors) as before the crisis, or whether new spatial patterns and processes are revealed. We apply an employment growth model to France’s 297 Employment Zones, and test the robustness of the model in this time of crisis.