the drop in apprenticeship aid slows down hiring

Private employment fell for the fourth consecutive quarter, with 61,000 positions lost between July and September 2025, in particular due to the drop in apprenticeship contracts. The reduction in public aid for hiring apprentices slows down the dynamic observed in recent years and could continue to discourage businesses and young people.

Employment in the private sector fell in the third quarter of 2025 in French companies. All professions are affected. According to INSEE, the decline is 0.3% between July and September. Concretely, this means that nearly 61,000 jobs have been destroyed. Over one year, the losses amount to just over 112,000 positions. This is the fourth consecutive quarter of decline after approximately four years of growth. The downward trend is therefore taking hold in salaried employment.

There is a wait-and-see attitude among business leaders who want to see things more clearly on political and budgetary levels before recruiting. But this drop in hiring in the private sector between July and September is mainly due to the decline in work-study contracts, in other words apprenticeships, which combine training and work in a company. This decline was expected. It follows the reduction in aid for hiring apprentices decided by the government in February 2025. But there was a multiplier effect in September, because it is at this period, with the start of the school year, that apprenticeship entries are concentrated.

In 2025, aid for hiring an apprentice increased from 6,000 to 5,000 euros for SMEs, and to 2,000 euros for larger companies. Thanks to this aid, the number of apprentices in France increased from 430,000 in 2017 to more than a million in 2023. But this was before the necessary tightening of the screws in public finances to curb deficits and debt. And it’s probably not over, because the state intends to continue reducing apprenticeship aid as part of the 2026 budget.

In the finance bill for 2026, the government plans to end the exemptions from social contributions enjoyed by apprentices, which would automatically reduce their net salary. Financially winning for the State, this strategy is certainly not beneficial in terms of motivating young people. Because an apprenticeship contract is, for those who benefit from it, the opportunity to discover the world of work with training and… remuneration. I remind you that an apprentice receives a salary which can reach the minimum wage. By increasing apprentices’ contributions from next year, the government risks breaking the dynamics of a system which has until now rather motivated young people to work… which is what France really needs at the moment.