The 2026 budget could not be voted on before the end of December, leading to a tightening of aid for the hiring of apprentices, at the risk of slowing down the hiring of the latter in certain sectors.
:quality(50)/2023/07/07/64a7df4c5fe71_placeholder-36b69ec8.png)
Published
Reading time: 2min
:quality(50)/2023/03/03/6401ee028b079_maxnewsworldfive845122.jpg)
New blow for aid for hiring apprentices, this incentive bonus paid to employers. It amounts to 5,000 euros for companies with fewer than 250 employees. Due to a lack of budget for 2026, the government is tightening the conditions for receiving this aid, reserving it for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
In fact, from 1East January, only companies with fewer than 250 employees will be entitled to this bonus, provided they take on an apprentice who is preparing a diploma equivalent to the baccalaureate or below such as a CAP, BEP or a professional certificate. Its amount will not change, it remains at 5,000 euros for the first year and 6,000 euros if the apprentice is disabled. On the other hand, no aid is provided for large companies or for bachelor’s or master’s students.
How does the government justify this decision? By the absence of a budget for the year 2026 at the moment. Faced with the failure of the joint committee to find a compromise on the finance bill (PLF) on December 19, the government had Parliament adopt a special law a few days later, as it had done the previous year.
It is not a budget, only a crutch which allows the State and its administrations to be temporarily financed. Which explains this version, more restrictive and valid for the entire duration of the special law, at the risk of accentuating the brake on the hiring of apprentices.
In fact, since this summer nearly 50,000 fewer contracts have been observed between June and September, largely linked to the reduction in aid adopted at the start of the year. The bonus had notably been reduced by 1,000 euros for SMEs and by 4,000 euros for larger companies.
However, with this public aid, the number of apprentices in France jumped between 2017 and 2023, going from 430,000 to more than a million, with more students from higher education and the service sector. Due to lack of budget, the future of many apprenticeship contracts remains on hold.
