Apprentices in carpentry and boilermaking. - SIPA

  • Thanks to civic service and the opening of new training places, the Head of State hopes to delay the entry into the labor market of certain young people.
  • An "effective" measure if the crisis is only temporary, estimates the economist Bertrand Martinot, interviewed by 20 Minutes .

Youth employment. This is one of Emmanuel Macron's priorities for reviving the economy after the health crisis. During his interview of July 14, the President of the Republic notably announced the creation of 300,000 integration contracts, 100,000 additional places in civic service, 200,000 qualifying training courses or even a system of exemption from charges for companies calling on to employees under the age of 25. Bertrand Martinot, associate economist at the Montaigne Institute, answers questions from 20 Minutes.

Why is youth employment a priority today?

What we know in this kind of crisis is that young people are more affected than the rest of the population: they will be less concerned by the often spectacular social plans, but these ultimately destroy fewer jobs than those that will not be created. We must also prepare for young people to bear the stigma of the crisis: they will have, for a while longer, a lower employment rate and lower wages… So youth employment is obviously the right target.

Civic service, training ... Are these measures which will delay the entry of young people into the job market relevant?

There are two possible scenarios: either the crisis is very deep but transient, with a situation which improves in 2022-2023, in which case it will be very effective measures which will have helped to clear the air gap. Delaying entry into the labor market through qualifying training is therefore rather a good thing, if these young people have the financial opportunity or can benefit from scholarships. Ditto for civic service, which can provide a paraprofessional experience.

The second scenario is a crisis that ends but with slow growth that lasts, because we have destroyed capital, we have companies in poor health ... In which case job creation will be very weak for several years. And there, employment policy can not do much!

What about exemptions from charges and integration contracts?

These elements must be specified, but what can be learned as lessons from previous recessions is that subsidized contracts (in the non-market sector) are generally ineffective, we must limit the number because we are realizes that people don't fit better with it.

On the other hand, the exemptions from charges at the level of low wages, as was done in 2009, it works. The assessments that had been made of this measure, which applied to companies with fewer than ten employees, were very favorable. However, they will certainly not create enough jobs to absorb the entire population of young people. It is also necessary to find those who have the right qualification opposite.

Is the objective of leaving "no young person without a solution at the start of the school year" achievable?

Faced with a recession of this magnitude, the answer is no. We are still talking about 800,000 to a million destruction (or non-creation) of jobs in 2020 with young people who will largely take their share and for whom the difficulties have increased.

The job market is not just boxes to fill in, and the employment policy is not all-powerful: it can help mitigate the shock with an undoubtedly very high cost for finances but it will not completely erase the impact of the crisis. In the process, professional integration is a competence of the regions: many things will be played out at the local level.

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  • Jean Castex
  • Youth
  • Unemployment
  • Economic crisis
  • Emmanuel Macron
  • Employment
  • Economy