The reason is highly respectable. But it cannot be invoked today in a country where companies have hired nearly 300,000 employees in one year. The second reason is the proximity of elections, to influence the famous unemployment curve. Both right and left governments have competed in creativity to launch such schemes as national elections approach, in a continuity that is both rare and admirable, for almost forty years. However, this reason is neither respectable nor current.
It is therefore hardly surprising that the current government wants to trim its sails. Moreover, the 2017 reduction was part of the financial law passed nine months ago. Unfortunately, it is also unsurprising that the previous government eagerly overused subsidized jobs at the beginning of the year to make the French believe that things were getting better. The local elected officials who claim to be shocked by an unexpected drop can only be very naive. Those who filled permanent positions with naturally temporary measures have only themselves to blame.
The announcement of the reduction in the number of subsidized contracts is a severe blow for many associations and young workers who gain employment through this status. The government’s economic argument is not sufficient to justify the drastic reduction of a status that is primarily of social significance.
This is a fairly symbolic issue that arouses misunderstanding. The reduction in subsidized contracts decided by the government is not well received in associative circles where the status allows hiring and thus acting on several levels.
From the government’s side, this decision is explained by the fact that it is expensive and that it does not work. A rhetoric that is far from convincing since the status is offered to those furthest from the workforce, making it a social measure rather than an economic one.
The Ministry of Labor announced at the beginning of August that from 459,000 subsidized contracts in 2016, the number will have to be reduced to 293,000.
This is very bad news for the associative fabric, where subsidized jobs are an opportunity to be active by employing without having resources comparable to the corporate world.
The question remains whether a social measure will be proposed for the long-term unemployed, disabled people, or other professional categories who, in a more flexible labor market, are likely to find it even more challenging to integrate.
