We must therefore first do our utmost to stop the slow erosion of basic skills observed in the various international surveys (PISA, TIMSS). We must then ramp up the recent takeoff, since the 2018 Avenir Pro law and the 2020 1 jeune 1 solution plan, of apprenticeships, a fantastic tool for training and professional integration. The record number of close to 700,000 new contracts signed in 2021 must be just a starting point, from which to rethink the financing of work-study programmes. Page 11 sur 15 As regards seniors, France lags behind in terms of the employment rate and this gap widens as people approach retirement. This is another economic reason – in addition to ensuring the smooth financing of the old age insurance scheme – why it is necessary to reform our pension system. This reform must be fair, and companies will have to make more room for older workers. There remain three measures in order to raise the supply of labour for all workers: - beyond apprenticeships for young people, vocational training for all. The Personal Training Account, resulting from the 2018 reform, has proved a great success (demands for training have increased by 40% compared to 2019)xv. However, it will have to be optimised, in order to control its costs and above all to better steer it towards skill needs, in particular in the digital and industrial professions of the future. I have noted that, on the key issue of skill enhancement, France is still among the European laggards.
i The past growth path is calculated here using the December 2019 macroeconomic GDP projection, extrapolated from 2023 onwards using the potential GDP forecast at that time. ii F. Villeroy de Galhau, Europe’s growth gap reconciling Keynes and Schumpeter, Speech, March 2021. iii European Commission, Impact assessment, Stepping up Europe’s 2030 climate ambition, Commission staff working document, 2020. iv J. Pisani-Ferry, Climate policy is macroeconomic policy, and the implications will be significant, PIIE Policy Brief No.2120, August 2021. v T. Allen, J. Boissinot, L. Clerc, S. Dees, Developing climate transition scenarios to manage financial risks, Bulletin de la Banque de France No.237/9, by T. Allen, S. Dees, C. M. Caicedo Graciano, V. Chouard, L. Clerc, A. de Gaye, ... & L. Vernet, Climate-related scenarios for financial stability assessment: An application to France, 2020. Page 16 sur 15 vi  Spain and Italy have the lowest scores in the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), 252 and 250, respectively, in adult literacy, just behind France (262), compared to 284 for the Netherlands, 278 for Norway and 279 for Sweden. In France, 22% of workers are low-skilled, in Spain and Italy around 27%, in Sweden and Norway around 13%. Shares of high-skilled workers: France 8%, Spain 5%, Italy 3%, Sweden 16%, Norway 14% Based on PEICA 2012 and OECD 2013, qualifications in terms of skills.