Haute-Saône is based on a diverse industry: metallurgy (Lisi); wood industry (Parisot Industrie); Pharmaceutical (vetoquinol); clothing (Hermès); Automobile (Forvia and Stellantis); agrifood (Euroserum, Milleret and André Bazin); Agricultural (John Deere). Better still, the establishments are distributed in different geographic poles of the department, whether around Gray, Vesoul, Lure, Héricourt or the North of Haute-Saône. In the 15 largest private employers in the department (more than 250 employees), 11 are in industry.
“Metallurgy and the wood industry are historically well established sectors”, observe INSEE. It notes that other traditional industries (cotton or starchy) have, however, disappeared. The textiles was relaunched by the establishment of the Franche-Comté manufactures of the Hermès group, with a site in Héricourt. These were attracted by the presence of the Boudard school, a training center in leather trades.
The department should benefit from an additional activities with the transformation of the Luxeuil-Saint-Sauveur air base 116 (read our article), which will become a nuclear basis, resulting in the doubling of its workforce by 2035. The department experienced an unemployment rate of 6.5 %, at the end of 2024, a point below the national average.
