France: President François Hollande launches his “urgent plan” to combat unemployment

On 18 January, France’s president unveiled a series of measures to leaders of both the unions and employer’ bodies aimed at stopping the country’s unemployment from accelerating. The measures include €2,000 in financial aid per year to help SMEs hire new employees, ways to boost the number of apprenticeships, additional training for some 500,000 jobless, more flexible working times, and ways to support individual entrepreneurs. The goal is to reverse the trend in unemployment before his five-year presidential term comes to an end. The total cost of these measures will amount to €2billion with the funds expected to be financed through cost savings.
Enjoy this article for free while you’re in your trial period
You have access to our content for 1 month.

Above all the government is looking to support employment in the SMEs and this is a priority in President’s plan. It was the main announcement in a speech given to actors in business and employment at the Economic Social and Environmental Council (Cese) on 18 January 2016. President François Hollande unveiled an annual €2,000 boost for SMEs in return for hiring an employee on a permanent indefinite contract or on a fixed contract of more than six months and paid up to 1.3 times the basic minimu

Do you have information to share with us?
What you absolutely must read this week
The essential content of the week selected by the editorial team.
See all
France: Medef publishes guide to support career transitions and retraining
France's largest employer federation Medef has provided its regional representatives with a practical guide designed to support career transitions and retraining. Structured around three key tools...
6 February 2026
EU: Commission wants to facilitate entry of international ‘talent’
In a recommendation published on 29 January, the European Commission calls on member states to take a series of measures to attract and retain international talent. It targets holders of skilled...
France: social partners’ conference on work, employment, and retirement sets out roadmap
Until the summer, French social partners from both the private and public sectors will hold talks on labour, employment and pensions, with the aim of developing shared positions to inform public...
ENI incorporates just transition and AI into global agreement
On 13 January, Italian energy group ENI renewed its global agreement on international industrial relations, corporate social responsibility and the just transition with Italian unions CGIL, CISL...
5 February 2026
Most viewed articles of the month on mind HR
What readers clicked on the most last month.
What readers clicked on the most last month.
1
Oliver Dietrich (IG Metall): “The advent of AI can be a means of deepening social partnership within companies”
In Germany, trade unions want to influence how AI is deployed in companies. Oliver Dietrich is an AI project manager at the regional office of the IG Metall trade union in North Rhine-Westphalia...
2
EU: social partners split over competitiveness and action on job quality
The European Trade Union Confederation and BusinessEurope have published their response to the consultation document on the European Commission's upcoming EU quality jobs initiative. The two...
4 February 2026
3
Germany: collective bargaining negotiations begin in chemical industry
Collective bargaining talks in Germany’s chemical and pharmaceutical industries are due to open this week, covering nearly 580,000 employees across around 1,700 companies. With the sector facing...
3 February 2026
4
Italy: new generational renewal agreement penned at UniCredit
The agreement signed on 30 December by UniCredit, Italy’s second-largest banking group, with the Fabi, First-Cisl, Fisac-Cgil, Uilca and Unisin trade unions aims to continue generational...
5
France: social partner talks extend far beyond contractual terminations
After a false start on 3 December, French social partners resumed talks on 7 January 2026 on potential changes to the unemployment insurance agreement, including the rules governing compensation...
12 January 2026
6
EU: banking sector social partners commit to combating violence and harassment
On 15 January, the trade union federation UNI Europa Finance and three employers’ associations in the banking sector signed a joint statement on preventing violence and harassment in the...