From school to the workplace, employment opportunities

In France, in 2024, 12,8% of young people aged 15 to 29 were neither in education, employment or training (NEETs) (INSEE 2024), and one young person in five remain unemployed after the end of their education or training. These statistics reveal a structural and conceptual dysfunction in the training and employment spheres.

According to the JAM study of “Projet Jeunesse(s) 2025”, more than 60% of young people have experienced periods without employment or schooling/training? About half of them consider that the lack of experience is the main barrier to professional integration. In addition, the majority of 18–24-year-olds (60%) believe that school no longer gives everyone the same chances of success. As soon as they end secondary education, young people must make a decisive choice for their future. This choice is influenced by socio-economic factors and reveals inequalities that are often linked to a lack of information for part of the population.

For 41% of these young people, their first job or the following ones did not correspond to their curriculum or their wishes (JAM, Projet Jeunesse(s) 2025). So, what evolutions and initiatives, from the private sector or the employment sphere in general, could facilitate young people’s access to employment? How to develop and reassert the value of vocational training? Is this fast specialization really desirable?