Industrial sector workforce tensions and skills and related training schemes

While the industry has created more than 100,000 jobs since 2017, the priority of a job-skills policy for this sector remains the resolution of recruitment tensions. 

New industrial projects linked to environmental, energy and digital transitions are reshaping the territories and accompanying a reindustrialisation policy led by France 2030 in various strategic sectors for the country. This is a challenge for the development of industrial skills, given that industrial employment has been declining steadily in France since 1974 and that it is partly a question of developing new sectors. As the diagnosis stands, the extent of job creation in the coming years remains difficult to quantify but should be less than the replacements of end-of-career departures already estimated at 966,000 by 2030. The tense situation in industrial recruitment remains the most difficult problem to resolve, against a backdrop of increased competition on the labour market and falling unemployment rates, even though industrial companies are already making more use of temporary employment and the public employment service than other sectors.

Together with companies, public authorities are now investing heavily in the development of industrial skills. 

The latter benefited from at least €2.7 billion in 2021. In addition, the call for expressions of interest "Skills and Future Professions" has a budget of €2.5 billion for the adaptation of training by 2030, with €101 million already paid out to the selected projects. Almost 265,500 pupils and students were enrolled in 2020 in the last year of training related to industrial professions. At the start of 2021, 1.3 million pupils and students were enrolled in initial training linked to industrial professions (production or scientific specialisation) at all levels. While demand for employment is falling, the public employment service is mobilising its efforts and entry into industrial training for jobseekers has doubled since 2015. Finally, more than 271,000 people have completed industry-related training with their personal training account (PTA) since 2021.