France/ Haute-Vienne: the community of communes of Noblat becomes a territory with zero long-term unemployment

Announced this Monday, the Communauté de communes de Noblat has become a territory with zero long-term unemployed. An innovative reintegration scheme designed to bring back into the workforce people who are very far from employment.

A first in Haute-Vienne. The Noblat community of communes has been awarded the "territoire zéro chômeur de longue durée" (zero long-term unemployed) label. The news came on Monday, following the green light from the Fonds d'expérimentation territorial contre le chômage de longue durée (territorial experimentation fund against long-term unemployment). Since 2019, associations, elected representatives and unemployed people have been pushing to integrate this scheme.

Launched by the ATD Quart-Monde movement, zero unemployment territories aim to put an end to long-term unemployment by offering jobs to people who are far removed from working life. From the outset, they are offered a permanent contract with a chosen working schedule and real prospects for training and development within the company.

Objective: sixty new hires within five years

The latter is a bit special: it's an EBE. It's an EBE - a company dedicated to employment. The one in the Noblat community of communes will be called "Noblatout".Noblatout"and its slogan is "Ensemble bien entreprendre". In the coming weeks, around ten long-term unemployed people will be hired. The aim is to have 24 employees within a year and around 60 within five years. A significant solution for a region with 457 long-term unemployed.

The company will offer a range of activities and services. In Haute-Vienne, there is no shortage of projects. For example, "helping tomake paper" at the Du Got mill in Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat, but also "making objects from recycled or re-employed fabric", or "making clothes from recycled materials".Claudine Giraud, from the RIS association, one of the organizations behind the project, explains.All these activities have one thing in common: they don 't compete with local businesses.

A return to working life at no extra cost

Financing is a mix of subsidies and commercial revenue.The cost of unemployment is estimated at €18,000 per person," says Estelle Delmont, president of EBE, "and this money is paid back - partly by the State and partly by the département - to the employment enterprise. The second source of income for the company is, of course, the sales it generates". For the community, the cost remains the same as if it were compensating these unemployed people, but it offers them a return to active life.

The philosophy behind the "zero long-term unemployed" project is "the right to employment for everyone".the right to employment for everyone in the region"explains Estelle Delmont. Tried out in around ten territories since 2017, the Noblat community of communes is the sixtieth to join the scheme.

Source: www.francebleu.fr