Government cash to back youth employment plans

THE French government has put forward a plan to create 150,000 jobs for young people, at a cost of €2.3 billion.

The Emplois d'Avenir proposal aims to subsidise the payment of young staff taken on in the public, non-profit and in some cases the private sector by covering up to a maximum of 75% the payment of the minimum wage to the new workers for three years.

Young people aged between 16 and 25-years-old will be targeted by the measures, with particular emphasis on those living in urban areas and the countryside that face poor job prospects.

With the unemployment figure in France expected to top three million next month, the employment minister Michel Sapin said they hope to offer the first positions to young people by early next year.