Regions denounce a 56% cut in their training budget

The government has cut 56% of the 2026 budget allocated to training job seekers, which will result in the elimination of more than 60.000 places, the association Regions of France said indignantly in a statement on Friday, February 27.

The Minister of Labour informed regional elected officials of the amounts allocated by the Prime Minister for the Regional Skills Investment Pacts. For 2026, only €377 million will be available, compared to the €854,9 million committed three years ago, the document emphasizes.

This decrease represents a drop of more than half in the State's contribution compared to 2025. This is an unprecedented situation since 2019, the year this contractual mechanism was put in place.

Penalized by the finance law, the regions assert that they will not have the means to compensate for this financial loss on their own budgets.

The association asserts that the consequences will be "extremely serious". The elimination of places will initially target those furthest removed from the job market, such as low-skilled young people, the long-term unemployed, those receiving RSA benefits, or disabled workers.

The needs of sectors of the economy such as construction, industry, crafts, digital technology or commerce will no longer be met, the document adds.

The press release mentions a "catastrophic" impact on the regional training system and "the first bankruptcies" among training organizations.

The government recently cut by 50% the funds allocated to apprenticeship training centers (CFA).

This decision comes as "unemployment is picking up again" among younger people, blatantly contradicting the law for full employment of December 18, 2023, the text adds.

A 2022 study by Dares reminds us that the probability of finding a job within 18 months increases by 10% for an applicant who has completed training.

"Under no circumstances will we be able to replace this disastrous disengagement of the State," said the socialists Carole Delga, president of Regions of France, and François Bonneau, president of the training commission, in the press release.

They condemn a measure highlighting "the particularly unbalanced nature of the implementation of decentralized powers".