The public employment services of its European neighbours, including Germany, are less “fragmented” than in France and have a “more directive” approach to supporting job seekers, according to a report published this Friday by the General Inspectorates for Social Affairs. (Igas) and Treasury. (IGF).
The inspections had been commissioned in August with a view to the creation of France Travail, which should succeed Pôle emploi and better coordinate all employment actors (Pôle emploi, local missions, communities, etc.). They studied the German, Catalan, Danish, Flemish and Swedish models, to compare them with the French service and “identify good practices”. It turns out that its organization is “less fragmented” than in France, with four services with single windows (Catalonia, Denmark, Flanders, Sweden) and in Germany “two windows with well-defined perimeters”, with a national agency (the Bundesagentur für Arbeit). .
Adoption of the concept of “unemployment avoidance” across the Rhine
As regards support for job seekers, four of the five countries or regions studied (Germany, Denmark, Flanders, Sweden) show “a strategy aimed at rapidly resuming employment,” the report says. On the other hand, “Catalonia and France promote support for the job seeker’s project, whether it allows quick access to employment or not” (training, removal of barriers to employment, etc.), according to the authors, for whom this strategy “could be justified in a context of high unemployment” but seems “today less relevant” in a context of recruitment tensions.
The report particularly recommends adopting the concept of “avoiding unemployment”, as is done in Germany. The idea would be to support people in employment “as soon as they are notified of their dismissal” or for fixed-term contracts “of a fixed duration a few weeks before the end of their contract.”
A “more progressive sanctions grid”
For job seekers, they also recommend adopting “a more progressive sanctions framework and applying it more systematically” in case of non-compliance with obligations. They also suggest the creation of “a Swedish-style job search newspaper, backed by sanctions for non-compliance with commitments.” The authors also recommend “strengthening the accountability of the actors”, that is, having more transparency about what is done with statistical feedback and more accountability with quantified annual objectives.
The employment bill (entitled “For a new labor and employment society” in a draft sent this week to the social partners) is due to be presented in early June. It should allow the creation of France Travail at the beginning of 2024.
Source: BFM TV
