The next school year is already causing great anxiety for many learning players. From 1er September, the credits granted to certain certifications will undergo substantial reductions, sometimes exceeding 30%. This blow of secateurs, inflicted at the beginning of the summer, is criticized because it could put training organizations in difficulty while leading to the abandonment of plans to open sections. The Elysée and the government have been receiving urgent messages from all sides, for several days, in order to reconsider the arbitrations.
At the origin of this sudden rise in temperature, there is a deliberation adopted on June 30 by France competences, “national authority” regulation and financing of the sector, whose board of directors is multi-party (State, employers, unions, regions, qualified personalities). This body recommended a reduction “total average of around 10%” of the “support levels” – ie the allocation intended to pay for support for the holder of an apprenticeship contract. The weight loss treatment will be carried out in two stages, with a first reduction of approximately 5% applicable to the 1er September, followed by another (from 1er April 2023) whose magnitude could be equivalent. Between 750 and 800 million euros should be saved in this way.
The aim of such a decision, pushed by the public authorities, is to “contribute to the objective of financial equilibrium of the system”. A modest formula which implicitly refers to the structural deficit of France’s skills: – 4.6 billion euros in 2020, – 3.2 billion in 2021… This year, the hole could reach 6 billion, according to a report made public on 23 June by the Court of Auditors. The State had to release subsidies to bail out the operator.
Pointing method
These cash-flow problems are both a source of concern and the consequence of a phenomenon that most players rejoice in: the unprecedented success of apprenticeship. In 2021, the number of contracts signed peaked at just over 730,000, up from 290,000 five years earlier. An impressive boom triggered by the law of September 2018 on “the freedom to choose one’s professional future”, which liberalized the sector. The upward trend has been multiplied by the exceptional bonuses awarded since mid-2020 to employers who hire apprentices.
All these changes have been factors of inflation and windfall effects. From 2021, it was noted that the allocations were approximately 20% higher than the estimated cost of the training courses – these figures referring to averages. The hour of the “rationalization” therefore sounded, as indicated by a source at the heart of the file. Since the end of 2021, the stakeholders have been talking to reconcile the amount of aid with that of the costs borne by the organizations that host apprentices. These negotiations led to a result in line with the expectations of France Competences for approximately 70% of the levels of support. For the others, a turn of the screw will therefore be given.
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