Table of Contents

  • Across countries, tackling skill mismatch and skill shortages is a major challenge for labour market and training policies in the context of rapid and substantial changes in skill needs. In most countries, a substantial share of employers complain that they cannot find workers with the skills that their businesses require. At the same time, many college graduates face difficulties in finding job opportunities matching their qualifications.

  • The demand for skills in developed countries is changing constantly as a result of global trends such as technological progress, globalisation and population ageing. In France, as in many other high-income countries, the composition of the economy has changed considerably in recent decades, shifting towards high service intensity. Hightech manufacturing and knowledge intensive services account for an important share of French value added, signalling a strong demand for high-level skills. Nonetheless, while France performs well in terms of innovation, a substantial gap remains compared with other European countries in the vanguard. The educational attainment level of the French population is average compared with other OECD countries, and the proficiency of French adults in literacy and numeracy is below the OECD average, suggesting that the supply of skills may represent bottlenecks for the economic performance of France.

  • Skills imbalances are driven by structural and cyclical factors that shape the demand for and supply of skills. For instance, economic growth, changes in the composition of economic output over time and the so-called megatrends are all important macroeconomic factors influencing the demand for skills. On the other hand, labour market trends, migration, and skills and education outcomes play an important role in defining the supply of skills. The main drivers of skills demand and supply in France are discussed in this chapter, together with the current state of skills imbalances.

  • In order to design policies that effectively tackle existing or anticipated skills imbalances, countries must thoroughly analyse their demand for and supply of skills. The findings from these skills needs assessment exercises can feed into a range of policies, such education and training, employment and migration policies, to make them more responsive to labour market needs. This chapter documents the different skill needs assessment exercises put in place in France, the support measures for carrying out these types of exercises, and the main uses of skill needs information.

  • As skills imbalances can be costly for individuals and societies, countries try to reduce them by implementing policies that steer the demand for and supply of skills. The demand for skills can, for example, be influenced by industrial policy, while education and training policies, as well as migration policies, can alter the supply of skills. This chapter documents the policies that have been implemented in France to tackle skills imbalances.

  • In spite of the extensive range of policy initiatives to tackle skills imbalances in France, some challenges remain. This chapter zooms in on the most important challenges, and provides recommendations that can be used by public and private stakeholders to improve the skills outcomes of the country. Best practice examples from other countries are provided to illustrate how policies can effectively address skills imbalances. These recommendations and examples can guide French policy makers in the (re-)design of new and existing policies to reduce skills shortages, surpluses and mismatch.