End of summer reports in the French vocational training industry
The summer break has seen the publication of several studies and reports published on the subject of vocational training. These reports have been published in a wider context of planned reform of vocational training under the “for a better professional future” law and the various reports and studies have provided many different analyses and have delivered several notable lessons.
CPF: what is the situation in 2018?
The DARES (Directorate of Research, Studies and Statistics) recently published a qualitative study on the CPF (Personal Training Account). Conducted in the first half of 2018 with the aim of better understanding the use and effective operation of the training system, the report was carried out via system stakeholders in two regions and four Opca.
The conclusions of this study are quite nuanced but overall are rather negative. It appears that the CPF was designed on very strict institutional lines and was not flexible enough for end-users and was also not designed with end-users in mind. Jobseekers, in particular, did not avail of the CPF scheme to help find themselves new jobs, with the CPF system used instead as an additional means of financing training rather than as a source of additional training.
On the other hand, employees have, however, have benefited from the CPF scheme and have used it as a way of obtaining additional skills through various training courses. Nevertheless, it should be noted that only the most autonomous workers have benefited from the CPF scheme, as technical support and advice was often found to be lacking and inadequate.
Professional training expenditures closely vetted
Several of the published studies turned their eye to the costs of vocational training. In July, the DARES published a report on expenditures for 2015, the first full year following the 2014 reform. This report showed that training expenditure fell slightly in 2015 (-1.7%) with companies being the most common financiers of training courses. Mutual funds through the Opca dropped by 8.8%, and the decrease in expenses related to the plan was not fully offset by the rise of the CPF and the increase in the use of CIF (individual training leave).
Cnefop [1] have also published a report on “the use of resources for employment, training and vocational guidance” using regional data from Crefop. This analysis of Efop spending has shed new light on employment, training and guidance spending, which amounts to almost € 100 billion, or 4.5% of GDP.
Mobilizing the main players
Several of the main players in the vocational training industry have produced publications before the application of the law “Avenir profesionnel”. The FPSPP (Parity Fund for Securing Career Pathways) has published its annual report. Probably destined to disappear and to be integrated into France Compétences, the FPSPP outlined the use of its funds while anticipating the future tasks of the new structure.
Several OPCAs, Agefos PME, Anfa, Transports et Services and Forco have also published reports detailing the use of funds from their collection.
[1] National Council for Employment, Training and Vocational Guidance.