Adecco: France is not creating enough jobs

France’s economic recovery is not only trailing the eurozone, it is generating fewer jobs than elsewhere, a problem that staffing company Adecco says is partly down to apprenticeships.

The number of people employed in France grew just 0.2% in the second quarter, according to Eurostat. That is less than in Spain, Italy, the UK, and Germany.

Adecco said the relative underperformance can be blamed at least partly on an aversion to apprenticeship programmes.

For chief executive officer Alain Dehaze, whose company fills about 700,000 jobs around the world every day, Europe’s jobs recovery can be divided broadly into three zones: The Germanic area that benefits from a strong apprenticeship programme that channel people directly from school into work; southern countries such as Italy and Spain that have shaken up their jobs market or reduce labour costs; and France, which lacks both.

“We always said that France would be the last country to recover employment and that has proved correct,” said Mr Dehaze.

“The golden recipe for creating jobs is learning what kinds of people companies need and feeding them with training programmes.”

More than 3.5m people are looking for work in France.

The mainland unemployment rate stood at 9.6% at the end of the second quarter, with the rate for those under 25 at 24%.

French president Francois Hollande has said cutting unemployment is a condition for him running for re-election in 2017.

Mr Dehaze says the youth unemployment figure needs not stay at that level — especially with an estimated 400,000 to 500,000 jobs unfilled in France. Better training programmes for school leavers could fill the gap.

“The mentality needs to be changed and sometimes legislation needs to be improved,” he said.

“There is a perception that apprenticeships are for jobs with low qualifications.”

In August, Adecco announced second-quarter earnings figures that beat estimates as demand from France’s construction and car industries offset the US market, where companies held back from hiring.