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Vocational training budgets are falling. What comes next?
2026 marked a turning point for vocational training in France: reduced apprenticeship funding, tighter access to the Personal Training Account (CPF), and budget pressure on general-purpose programmes. The era of "whatever it takes" is clearly over.
At the same time, a clear priority is emerging: supporting people made vulnerable by changes in the world of work — young people, jobseekers aged 50 and over, employees of microbusinesses and SMEs, and people changing careers. Training alone is no longer enough. We now need to re-engage people, restore confidence and address psychological barriers to employment, while helping everyone master professional uses of AI.
The most useful and effective employment programmes will probably emerge at the intersection of personal support, work-based immersion and familiarity with AI.
The real question in 2026 is: how can we work together more effectively to keep training people, and demonstrate that it works?
My conviction is informed by what I observed at close quarters through the Atout Senior programme. Initially co-designed by Ifocop and France Travail, piloted in Île-de-France in 2024 and then progressively introduced in other regions with other partners, it demonstrated something simple and powerful: when the right organisations coordinate around a shared pathway — preparation and support, training, work-based immersion and follow-up into employment — return-to-work rates are well above average, including for jobseekers aged 50 and over. This was achieved through end-to-end pathway design and a funding model combining public funds with an employer contribution, rather than an exceptional budget.
This model should provide an example for other initiatives supporting youth employment, employment for people aged 50 and over, or AI skills development across all groups. At La Boussole, Xavier Berrig and I are taking this direction through our Strategy for Training Providers practice. We are developing this kind of partnership-based programme design, starting with experimentation, measurement and adjustment, just as Atout Senior did before considering a national rollout.
Over the coming months, we will share the models we are testing, the questions they raise and the partners we are working with on La Boussole.
If you work in training or employment, or manage HR challenges involving older workers or people changing careers, this practice is also for you. We look forward to discussing it with you.