more bad news for the unemployed?

© SOPA Images

– Catherine Vautrin, the Minister in charge of Labor, Health, Solidarity and Families.

Catherine Vautrin returns to service within a ministry that she knows well. La Marnaise thus finds itself in control of an XXL portfolio: Work, Health, Solidarity and Families. Not really a first for her, since she had already held an almost similar position under Gabriel Attal between January and September 2024. She then carried, among other things, the very controversial bill on the end of life, brutally interrupted by the dissolution of the Assembly last June.

But his journey had been particularly disrupted by a reform of unemployment insurance strongly criticized by the social partners, who had finally regained control of the file. However, this readjustment seemed essential in the eyes of the minister, who affirmed that she wanted to fight against the lasting distance from the job market. “The key word of unemployment insurance is that the longer a person remains unemployed, the more they lose their employability”, she justified last May in La Gazette du Midi. The minister then staunchly defended a tightening of the rules for encourage job seekers to get back on the saddle more quickly.

And if she was no longer at the helm in recent months, Catherine Vautrin was able to count on her now partner, Astrid Panosyan-Bouvet, to stay the course. Result ? A new agreementthe result of negotiations with the social partners, which plans to further tighten the conditions for unemployment compensation from 1er avril 2025.

Towards more checks on job seekers

The return of Catherine Vautrin is therefore part of the continuity of a reform already well underway. The objective is clear: to encourage more job seekers to find a position quickly. And if this allows the passage of reduce public spendingso much the better ! Even if it means provoking a new reaction from the unions, who cry about “hunting the unemployed”. Under his leadership, the government had already strengthened controls to check whether recipients were actively looking for work. Then Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, supported by Catherine Vautrin, assumed he wanted «[multiplier] by three checks each year by the end of the five-year term”. Translation: France Travail will have to carry out more than 1.5 million annual verifications by 2027.

But be careful, these controls do not apply uniformly. 7 out of 10 controls target sectors under tensionthose who are desperately struggling to recruit. An official list of professions concerned, initially promised for January 2025 by Astrid Panosyan-Bouvetcould however be delayed, given the recent political turbulence. Until then, we will have to be content with list established by the Department of Research Animation, Studies and Statistics (Dares), which includes professions such as mechanical technician, electrical designer and even nurse.

Regardless, this targeting strategy could strengthen the feeling of coercion towards the unemployed. Especially since these controls are not necessarily a panacea. According to France Travail surveys, 83% of beneficiaries checked were perfectly compliant. How will the unemployed be eaten?