Chronic. The presentation of the France 2030 plan by the President of the Republic and not by the high commissioner for the plan surprised. At least, the existence of this high commissioner was mentioned, unlike that of the high commissioner for skills, created in March 2020 and responsible, in particular, to supervise a prospective exercise of trades and qualifications at the horizon 2030. This oversight is significant: power today thinks about the future of the capital factor, but not that of the labor factor.
The exercise contrasts with the planning born after the Second World War. In a context of reconstruction, then of modernization of the French economy, planning simultaneously integrated the capitalistic and human dimensions, and their interaction. Planning of manpower needs, the education system and professional branches formed a block articulated around qualification. In the tables of collective agreements, the qualification of the worker on a double scale (his training and his experience) corresponded to the qualification of the job (the ability to exercise a trade or a position). The grid offered both a hierarchy of qualifications to which minimum wages were associated, and a tool for translating the planned development of productive staff into constant adaptation of flows in initial training.
The eruption of mass unemployment, the digital revolution, changes in work organizations and the “flexibilization” of the labor market have dismembered this edifice. Requirement of versatility, teamwork, simultaneous and increasing mobilization of cognitive and physical capacities made it difficult to qualify for a job. For example, a job description for a valet or a maid typically comprises, today, three pages, describing in particular the skills expected.
Low cost model
The notion of individual skills has in fact taken the place of qualification, generating a nebula of varied typologies. The survey of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) “Assessment of Adult Skills” (PIAAC) retains competence in literature, numeracy (understanding and using mathematical data) and problem solving. For Pôle emploi, the “Three types of skills to promote during your application” are knowledge, know-how and interpersonal skills. In their acquisition, it is no longer the cumulative experience in a position that is valued, but the accumulation of varied experiences. The precariousness of careers, especially for young people, is thus transformed into “opportunities”.
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