this new free system to get a job after 50

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– If the employment rate is 77% among 55-59 year olds, it drops to 38.1% among 60-64 year olds, according to a Dares study.

What if business immersion was the panacea to the senior employment puzzle? Salary costs too high, lack of mobility or less adaptability… Prejudices about seniors die hard, and finding a job after 50 is often an obstacle course. To help these profiles, the training organization Ifocop has joined forces with France Travail (formerly Pôle emploi) to launch the Atout senior program. A system in the experimental phase since September in Ile-de-France, for a period of one year. Objective: to enable job seekers aged at least 50 to retrain quickly.

To do this, Ifocop is relying on a system that recalls the principles of work-study: a theoretical training of four months, followed by practical training course of an equivalent duration. A specificity which seems to prove itself: “Over the year 2022-2023, the return to employment rate of our learners aged 50 and over was 83%”welcomes Bertrand Lamour, director of Ifocop. A number “2 and a half times higher than the average of other training centers for this age group”. On the financing side, the model once again resembles that of work-study. “75% of the program is financed by the host company and 25% by your CPF”, we can read on the website of the training organization. Very often, you will therefore not have nothing to pay.

A “reluctant” departure followed by several unsuitable jobs

Geeta is one of these seniors who has returned to employment. Last year, this 59-year-old from Ile-de-France began Ifocop training as a human resources manager (HRR) at Emmaüs Alternatives. She also discovered the training organization somewhat by chance. It must be said that she didn't think she would ever need it. Geeta begins her career at the high-end caterer Lenôtre. For 34 yearsshe climbed the ladder: she started as a saleswoman and ended up as director of five stores. “I was attached to my job and to this house all my life”she remembers, then evoking her departure “reluctantly” in 2017, occurring after the company's takeover.

Unemployed at 51, Geeta is not considering early retirement. She then embarked on an intense job search. After several one-off missions that did not suit her, she landed a position as regional manager at Géraud in 2021, a market and fair management company. But the collaboration goes badly:

“I favor humanity and cooperation, and I did not find these values ​​there”

Exhausted, she is diagnosed in burned out by her doctor two years later and made the difficult decision to resign in February 2023. Returning to unemployment, she then received monthly benefits of 1 600 euros net per month. A salary well below the 3,800 euros she received in her previous position. “A hell of a blow”certainly, but who “given time to rebuild”. Because during her four months of unemployment, Geeta is thinking about the next stage of her professional career: returning to what she loves, people. In September 2023, she came across Ifocop through a Google search, and was easily convinced. It was exactly what he needed: “a short and intense trainingwith a practical component that [lui] allowed to [se] project directly into a position ». And the center is only a few minutes from her home.

You are compensated for the entire duration of the program

Her choice definitely falls on Ifocop when she does the accounts. Thanks to her CPF and her employer, Geeta does not have to pay a single cent. Funded to the tune of 7,100 euros by its host company, Emmaüs Alternatives, the remaining 2,800 euros are covered by its CPF. Bingo! Neither one nor two, she started her human resources training a few weeks later. During the eight months of her training, Geeta therefore continues to perceive her 1 600 euros unemployment benefits, without receiving additional remuneration from their employer. A lesser evil. “I had already repaid all my loans, which allowed me to get by much more easily than someone who pays their rent or a mortgage”she admits. For the almost sixty-year-old who defines herself as “very little spender”financial adjustments are a «necessary sacrifice to succeed his professional reconversion”.

Note that if you reach the end of your rights, France Travail can pay you the France Travail training remuneration (RFFT), until the end of your course. The amount of this aid, which depends on your profile, varies between 220 and 756 euros. Modest compensation which can be supplemented by reimbursements for your accommodation or travel expenses during the training, also covered by France Travail.

Several job offers after training

At the end of her training, Geeta's efforts are rewarded: Emmaüs Alternatives offers to continue his contract on a renewable fixed-term contract until the end of the year, with gross annual remuneration of 28,000 euros. Although this low salary does not pose a problem for her, Geeta finally lets herself be seduced by the offer of another company, and a salary of 40,000 euros gross per year. A completely satisfactory offer for Geeta… Even as retirement approaches : “I happily leave aside the 20,000 euros less per year compared to my old position. Having savings and a good career, knowing that I contribute less does not pose a problem to me. Its objective is first of all to «find [son] executive status before reaching [ses] 60 ans»next year.

Just like work-study training, Ifocop seems to be the perfect solution if you want to return to the office after a period of unemployment, or if you simply want to change direction! Enough to give a boost to employment of seniors in France5.5 points below the European average. At least while waiting for the implementation of experience promotion contractthe CDI senior currently under study and in the pipeline at Medef for several years already…