The Role of ANPE in Promoting Measures Related to Training and Finding Employment for Job Seekers - France

Extract of the paper

Source: World Association of Public Employment Services (WAPES)

• A brief background

• ANPE – a cornerstone in training and employment programmes

Since its creation in 1967 under the auspices of the French employment authorities, ANPE has always, in its capacity as a privileged instrument of employment policies, played a leading role in determining, together with unions and management, the most suitable and effective measures to combat unemployment and facilitate finding jobs for workers.

My intention is not to give an exhaustive presentation, since this would be long, tedious and far-removed from the reality of the countries taking part in this discussion group. I will simply use the French experience to highlight certain aspects which I deem to be of importance as regards the role that a public employment service can have in conjunction with other bodies in training and finding employment for job seekers.

Les prérequis

• The ANPE board of governors consists of 15 persons (plus the chairman who is appointed by a ministerial decree) including an equal proportion of representatives of employers, workers and the authorities. The outcome is that ANPE measures are always implemented with the greatest concern for workers and society in general.
• The 1970’s saw the creation, in conjunction with professional organisations, of the R.O.M.E. (the French acronym of the operating directory of jobs and professions) designed to define and list jobs and professions, and above all to establish a language in common with employers and job seekers in order to ensure greater coherence and facilitate the creation of measures to train and find employment for workers who are unemployed. This instrument has evolved over the years to take technological developments into account.
• ANPE is represented in the decision-making authorities ranging from ministerial to local level which define employment policies, training requirements and implementation, the development of new branches, employers’ needs and the qualifications required.
• A partnership network. Unemployment is seldom an isolated problem. It often occurs along with education, health and accommodation problems, implying very close links not only to the state unemployment insurance scheme but also to public and private training bodies, employers’ federations and social workers in order to be ready to respond at the grass-roots level to the concerns of the unemployed.

A brief background

The economic crisis of the 1970’s resulted in an incredible increase in unemployment which levelled out a halt a mere three years ago. The numbers of unemployed climbed from one million to three million (12.5% of the working population) with the inherent risk of social unrest and characterised particularly by a very high rate of unemployment amongst young (particularly young, unskilled workers) and an average period of unemployment which increased to more than one year, particularly amongst older workers.

Employment services have been associated with dealing with the social aspects of unemployment: an extension of the period of unemployment benefits (which operates in France like an insurance with the amount of the contributions being decided by employers in conjunction with workers), early retirement plans, traineeships to train and occupy young people (without any real possibility of improving the situation or actually being able to incorporate them into the employment market on a long-term basis) and the creation of specific units designed for 16-25 year olds. In recent years, these social security benefits for persons with no income whatsoever have been complemented by income support. The main purpose of reducing the working week to 35 hours was to create more jobs.

ANPE – a cornerstone in training and employment programmes

Although ANPE has always been associated with the social aspects of unemployment, over the years part of its role has been transferred to the unemployment insurance scheme, thereby enabling ANPE to concentrate on its real mission of finding employment for workers.

This has been accompanied by the creation of an employment observatory offering an insight into the employment situation, growth employment sectors, the characteristics of companies hiring staff etc.

It has been necessary to institute a relationship based on trust with employers and job seekers, which requires in turn competent, well-trained staff:

• staff hired by competitive recruitment exams
• 4 months of alternating theoretical and practical training
• further training depending on the need to update group and individual knowledge.

This has been complemented by diversifying the services provided by local employment offices and a certification/guarantee seal of quality.

Each year, ANPE conducts 800,000 visits to companies and 12,000,000 interviews with job seekers. It currently accounts for approximately 40% of the vacancies market, and satisfies 90% of them.

Since ANPE does not always have sufficient structures to deal with all applications, it has gathered together partners to whom it delegates (and supervises) certain tasks or subcontracts training.

ANPE is furthermore party to all the structures at national, regional and local levels which are responsible for decision-making as regards policies about training and finding new employment for job seekers. There are many sources of finance (state budget, regional budgets, European social funds for disadvantaged sections of the population....)

Budget estimates are made one year in advance and can be adjusted during the year. The aim is to establish forecasts in advance as regards the different benefits, their number and cost.

• The question as regards training is to hold tenders for training bodies in growth sectors or sectors where there is a lack of employees, to control the quality of the training given during traineeships and to ensure a satisfactory rate of jobs found at the end of the traineeship (at least 50 - 60%) with a view to possibly repeating the operation.
• As for filling vacancies, it is a matter of providing attractive measures, too many to name here, to motivate companies to hire or relocate employees. Suffice to say that all employees should be able to find, within the system, a measure which suits their own situation, be it first employment, a change, a qualification or a new trade following an extended period of unemployment. There are also measures designed specifically for handicapped workers. The basic principle is to alternate periods of training with periods of experience inside companies.

1. exemption from employers’ contributions when hiring an employee (which may account for up to 55% of the salary) during a variable period which may last for several years.
2. payment of all or part of training expenses.

Such aid is not granted systematically. The local agency reserves the right, within its allocated budget, to determine whether the employer and the job seeker fulfil the criteria stipulated in order to benefit by such aid.

ANPE also participates in major recruitment drives by signing partnership agreements with large companies or training bodies (the Channel Tunnel, construction of a Toyota factory, etc) and is constantly in search, together with its partners, of innovative ways to facilitate finding employment for workers.

Jean Duronsoy
ANPE
Public Employment Service, France

Discussion group in Buenos Aires
20th September 2001

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