The number of apprentices in the crafts of built heritage, such as carpentry or masonry of old buildings, increased significantly between 2018 and 2023, according to a barometer published on Tuesday 3 December, by the Higher Institute of Trades, which sees a possible “Notre-Dame” effect.
The number of apprentice carpenters increased by 44% between 2018 and 2023, and almost doubled for old building masons or zinc workers. Niche professions such as organ builders and stained glass workers have also seen their numbers, which number around ten apprentices per year, double, or even more, in five years.
The increase in the number of apprentices in arts and crafts sectors is part of a broader phenomenon : with a major reform in 2018 and the introduction of significant recruitment subsidies, the number of apprentices in all sectors has significantly increased in France, from 317 000 in 2017 to 853 000 in 2023. But to this trend, the Higher Institute of Trades and the insurer Maaf see the addition of a “Notre-Dame” effect, whose reconstruction started in 2019 was able to give rise to vocations.
“Notre-Dame was able to talk a lot about these creative and artistic professions,” estimates Catherine Elie, director of the Higher Institute of Trades, a resource and study center on crafts and small businesses created by the State. The number of apprentice roofers (+23% between 2018 and 2023 for CAPs), cabinetmakers (+31%) or stonemasons (+40%) has also increased significantly.
“There is a job crisis in France, and these professions with meaning and passion correspond to new aspirations,” estimates Catherine Elie, who noted that these sectors, sometimes in tension, attract many young people seeking retraining.
Many artisans are concerned about the government's plan to reduce subsidies for hiring work-study students, considering it difficult to recruit without this aid and even though apprenticeship is omnipresent in the craft industry.
At the beginning of November, Joël Fourny, the president of the national network of Chambers of Trades and Crafts, estimated that the risk was “to have young people who are not going to find a job and who will have to be dealt with on the social side, which will also cost money instead of saving it by reducing aid”.
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