Pôle emploi: a digital transformation that still leaves something to be desired, points out the Cour des comptes

Good and not so good ... In its annual report, the Court of Auditors looked at the half-hearted balance sheet of Pôle emploi's digital strategy. An essential turn in the face of the sharp rise in unemployment since the economic crisis of 2008 - the number of job seekers in categories A, B, C increased by 21.1% between 2012 and 2018 - and in the face of competition from " jobboards ”, these sites specializing in job offers. As of 2012, the public establishment began an in-depth transformation of its online services by making it "the main lever for the implementation of its strategic objectives and for both internal and external transformation".

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This transition has resulted in various productivity gains. The dematerialization of the registration procedure, implemented in 2016, is one of the main sources of operator satisfaction. Previously, this task was carried out during the jobseeker's registration and diagnostic interview. Second development, the afternoons are now sanctuarized and dedicated to " planned meetings ". Interviews that counselors have " the opportunity to prepare in advance ", thanks in particular to an exchange by email with the job seeker. Finally, the digital strategy automates part of the allocation management. In this sense, "the average time for processing requests has regularly decreased, from 18.7 days in January 2015 to 6.6 days in December 2018, " said the Court of Auditors. These various productivity gains have made it possible to refocus the advisers on supporting job seekers and businesses. So much for the positive.

As for the negative, " Pôle emploi is not in a position to measure precisely the means of support redeployed for the benefit of job seekers most in difficulty, " warns the institution on rue Cambon. In addition, the financial magistrates are worried about the digital divide and encourage the establishment of job search to improve " the early detection of people in difficulty in the use of digital services ", namely, the elderly populations, few qualified or living in rural areas. The Court of Auditors also warns against the too wide range of digital applications and services offered and recommends focusing the offer " on the most effective tools for job hunting ". This point targets in particular the “ employment store ”, an underused platform which includes more than 300 applications. " The five most used services alone represent 75% of the visits ", details the report. In addition, the authors point to the technical fragility and the imperative modernization of certain aging software used by Pôle emploi.

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Faced with this observation, the Minister of Labor Muriel Pénicaud explains that the challenges highlighted by the Court of Auditors " largely overlap with those identified by the ministry ". In this sense, the Minister will take care “ that the investment effort for the modernization of the information systems of Pôle emploi is maintained in order to secure the assets and to continue to progress towards a service rendered always more in adequacy with the everyone's needs ”.