Inciter à former les salariés en chômage partiel. Les enseignements de la crise sanitaire

Since the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis in March 2020, the French State has encouraged both the use of short-time work and the possibility for companies to train their employees during periods of short-time work. The aim is to support companies in maintaining the skills of their employees and to accompany them in the organizational changes implied by the pandemic. To achieve this, it relies mainly on a financial instrument, the Fonds national pour l?emploi-formation (hereafter FNE-Formation), whose management and eligibility rules have been completely renewed at the beginning of the pandemic. Deployed by the ?Skills Operators? (OPCOs ? opérateurs de compétences) organised by professional sector, this system makes it possible to cover the full cost of training courses taken during short-time work. To what extent and for whom has this allowed the effective articulation of short-time work and training? For what purposes? Based on nearly forty interviews, run in 2021, at different levels (national, regional, branch, company), this article aims at answering these questions.