Former Labor Minister, Oliver Dussopt, had been waiting weeks for the green light… an end to the suspense. Emmanuel Macron announced the launch “next spring” of Act 2 of the labor market reform put into orbit the day after his first election in 2017. “The government will encourage job creation and restart,” the president said without elaborating. However, he clarified that “there will be stricter rules when job offers are rejected and better support for our unemployed through training, but also in employment on very concrete things like housing or transport”.
So it will be the new figure of the Ministry of Labor Catherine Vautrin, who will prepare the project already on the sly. Another measure of reform, while the law for full employment law of December 18, 2023 with the creation of France Travel and the amendment of the RSA, has barely begun to apply. What will be its contours beyond the main lines? It will be a question of “combining more training, more flexibility, more mobility, more anticipation and when we can simplify, the better”, the outgoing minister pointed out last December.
The proposal certainly risks putting the focus on unions in the middle of negotiations on tougher compensation terms for seniors, a new tightening of the screw on the unemployed called for by Emmanuel Macron. Current rules already provide for sanctions to reject two job offers.
These future measures are aimed at “achieving full employment”, a target set for 2027 and corresponding to an unemployment rate of 5% compared to 7.4% currently. A course that Emmanuel Macron is maintaining despite the economic recession shaping up for this year. The Banque de France and the OFCE forecast an unemployment rate of around 8%. Gabriel et al says he himself is “clear” about the “uncertain” economic context. The new prime minister should also outline these reforms during his general policy speech.
