Support employment, especially for young people, introduce a moratorium on the reform of unemployment insurance, compensate companies' fixed costs: the French Observatory of Economic Conjunctures (OFCE) proposes more important measures than those planned at this stage by the government to ensure the
"transition"
from emergency measures to recovery.
Read also: Before the crisis, 1.5 million young people were neither in studies nor in employment
“Health uncertainty remains great, but the vaccination campaign now makes it possible to design an economy without strong health constraints. This will be marked by income losses for certain households and businesses, which are hidden by the support measures
,
”
explains Xavier Ragot, president of the OFCE, in the introduction of a collective note published on Monday.
"The transition from support measures to stimulus measures must prevent the deterioration of employment and bankruptcies," he
adds.
Believing that
"the evolution of unemployment is very uncertain and will depend primarily on the measures put in place in 2021",
the authors defend a moratorium on the reform of unemployment insurance as long as unemployment has not returned to its level. pre-crisis (7%), as well as the postponement until
“the end of the health crisis”
of the reduction in the rate of support for partial unemployment by the State.
This could represent a cost of 10 billion euros this year.
Assisted contracts and temporary help for young workers
They also propose the creation of assisted jobs, half supported by the State, in personal services for those over 25 who lost their jobs last year.
For this year, they are counting on 500,000 assisted jobs, at a cost of 4.7 billion euros.
They also defend specific measures for young people, with the creation of 200,000 additional assisted contracts in 2021 for those who have entered the labor market since the start of the crisis, and temporary aid of up to 560 euros per month for young workers. having lost their jobs and young active students whose short contracts have not been renewed.
To support businesses, the OFCE pleads for an adaptation of the compensation of fixed costs, which would compensate the losses linked to the underutilization of productive capital (also including rents), rather than just the loss of turnover. business, because the latter
"may have little to do with the company's fixed costs"
.
This aid would be deducted from the amounts received through the solidarity fund for individual entrepreneurs, and could thus cost 18 billion euros this year.