Invited to speak on France’s public deficit which has worsened significantly in 2023, thehe Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, announced Wednesday March 27 “unemployment insurance reform this year”. Public opinion is rarely unanimous on budgetary issues. But what perception do workers and retirees have of the situation of job seekers? Insights from sociologist Jean Viard.
franceinfo: Jean Viard, what do workers and retirees think of these announcements of reform of unemployment insurance, because that’s what these debates are about?
Jean Viard: So we must say one thing: we are moving from a culture of unemployment that we have had for 30 years to a culture of inflation. We adopted habits, cultures, put in place rules which effectively defined a certain way of doing things.
What is a culture of unemployment?
A culture of unemployment is the fact that we have given longer rights. It has, for example, been said that workers of a certain age could have a longer period of unemployment, which could also serve as early retirement. Basically, we tried to protect people as much as possible when we really lacked jobs. And when we look around us, for example, the average duration of unemployment in Europe is 12 months. These are not terrible diets. This is to say that the question of length, for example of compensation, is in fact linked to the hope or not of finding work. So there are all these elements at play.
It must also be said that among the unemployed, for a good number, there is a link between unemployment and training. But there is also a link between unemployment and acceptance of changing jobs, because 50% of French people consider, and this is more than a few years ago, that the unemployed, in fact, are not really looking for work. . And there are only 45% who think that it is the fault of companies if there are unemployed people.
But who is right?
If you want, both, because the truth is that often, when you are unemployed, you don’t start looking right away. We say to ourselves, I have a year, a year and a half more, it’s always a shock to become unemployed. So you tend to do that. I’m not here to wear the gauntlet one way or the other. I am here to say: times are changing, there is a shortage of employees in many sectors and it must also be said that two thirds of employees dream of changing jobs.
So there are all those who change – about a quarter – there are all those who dream of doing so and those, they have a bit of the feeling that the unemployed, they just have to also change their jobs. job. And they have a job that no longer exists, or they had a well-paid job, it’s unfortunate, but hey. Is the State there to regulate, for example, the fact that you go from a salary of 2200 to 1800 euros. Or that you have to go to work a little further away, and even move. I think we shouldn’t be too caricatured, because among the unemployed there are as many men as women.
Among women, there are many single women with children, they do not have at all the same abilities, neither to train, nor to be mobile, moreover often, they do not have a driving license . So, it’s quite a maelstrom the job. But it’s true that afterwards, there are unfortunate people who are desperately looking for work but who can’t find any, or people who have no training, who should be put back into training. There is no average.
But what is true is that when we are in a financial crisis, like the one we are experiencing, the only way to fill the coffers is for there to be more assets, more contributions. to social security, more people who pay pensions, who pay taxes, etc.
In any case, whether it is people who are struggling to find a job or people who are taking their time, the way those who are not concerned view them is changing, due to the economic crisis and the inflation that we are all experiencing today?
But of course, because there was a time when we all agreed that France had a huge shortage of jobs. This is still true, but it is much less true. So this means that jobs that are not filled are perhaps also jobs that are a little more difficult. For example, take evenings in restaurants, you take long-term truck drivers, you take a certain number of jobs, where after the great pandemic, we have less desire to do them, because we realized that it restricted family life, quality of life, etc.
The two criteria people have for changing jobs is income and quality of life. And sometimes, quality of life comes before income, that is to say having time with your children, not working at night, etc. There are all these issues, so there is work to be done to improve certain jobs, that is indisputable. But let’s not pretend that everyone is on the same train.
We take averages, we have 7% unemployment. That’s true, but let’s say that we shouldn’t lump in the same bag those who have difficulty finding employment in an area where there are no jobs. For others, take Cherbourg, there will be 4,000 jobs created in nuclear power. There, we have another problem, which is that we have no accommodation. You see, the model is not unique. And I think we could all say one thing together: let’s at least try to have unique rules in Europe, since basically, it’s still an extremely interconnected market.