Eclipsed during the crisis, training wants to be a pillar of the recovery

"Stopped", "eclipsed", perceived as an "adjustment variable": vocational training was not a priority in companies during the Covid-19 crisis, shows the Center for Studies and research on qualifications (Cereq) in a study published in July and covering the year 2020 (*).

"The officials interviewed declared that keeping the activity afloat and avoiding layoffs was their first concern, training having taken a back seat," notes Cereq. In three quarters of the companies questioned, the training plan "has been put on hold".

Cereq puts into perspective the impact of the support measures decided by the public authorities.

The partial activity mechanism was intended in particular to enable companies to cope with a reduction in activity by reducing the working time of their employees and by training them on the hours not worked thanks to the training aid of the National Fund for employment (FNE-Formation).

However, the study estimates that "at the end of 2020, 16% of private sector companies with more than ten employees had access to training, and for only 6% of them this could be the case thanks to an FNE agreement. Training".

Distance learning

The study distinguishes, on the one hand, "the companies in full growth during the crisis (where) the urgency was to fix at their post the personnel in order to guarantee the volumes of production to meet the demand". "For our training plan, the year 2020 is a disaster (...) We have all been very busy during confinement (...) and we did not have time to train", testifies with Cereq the HRD of a large flour producer.

On the other hand, there are the companies "hit by the recession, the most numerous, (where) the freezing of their annual training plan was the consequence of administrative closures or the sharp slowdown in business". For the head of a retail company forced to close during confinement, "the crisis could be an opportunity, afterwards the concern is the means".

To maintain continuous training despite the circumstances, companies have encouraged distance learning. "We wanted to make layoffs a positive moment for our salespeople who took the opportunity to train," explains the HR Director of a meat processing company.

In this regard, Cereq underlines that "the question of the cost of online learning, linked to the purchase of IT equipment for staff, has been (...) a brake on their implementation, especially in very small businesses / PME "(very small and medium-sized enterprises).

However, according to the Federation of vocational training (FFP), "investments in skills are more than ever necessary in order to anticipate the economic recovery".

"There is a strong investment in training" among the priorities for the second half of 2021, confirms the National Association of HRDs (ANDRH).

According to figures from the Ministry of Labor, 8.594 training files were filed on average per day in March 2021 against 4.548 in July 2020.

A "more comprehensive plan" on training to ease tensions over recruitment in many sectors is on the menu of the meetings organized between Prime Minister Jean Castex and the social partners until Friday in Matignon.

(*) https://www.cereq.fr/en-2020-la-crise-sanitaire-met-larret-la-formation-en- entreprise.

Vocational training must "accompany transitions" (FFP)

The vocational training sector was "reactive" during the health crisis and must now "support the transitions" towards the professions of the future, insists Pierre Courbebaisse, president of the Federation of vocational training (FFP).

Question: What was the impact of the health crisis on vocational training?

Answer: "The magnitude and suddenness of the crisis, which was massive, did not help matters to make training plans. Great efforts were made. There was the premium to unlock or maintain the offer in apprenticeship contracts. The system of the National Employment Fund FNE-Formation to help employees in partial activity has had relative success: we do not have the same culture as in Germany where we do training. training when you are in a period of unemployment, especially in partial activity. These measures must be easy to access for companies, which is not always the case. "

Q: Is the implementation of distance training tools sustainable?

A: "The activity of training organizations, whether it concerns apprenticeships, job seekers or employees, has returned to its pre-crisis level after falling by 30% on average. The sector has been very responsive and deployed in distance training. We are part of an acceleration of this "digital learning". But you cannot do everything remotely. The future lies in hybrid training. "

Q: How can vocational training be a pillar of recovery?

A: "Training must support transitions, both digital transformation, the demand for new and increasingly diversified skills, and ecological transformation, with the arrival of new jobs in energy saving, for example. L The challenge is also to support sectors with a labor shortage. "