The situation of people aged 50 and over on short-term job contracts in France

Have reforms of the retirement system in France [organized on a redistributive basis: retiree pensions are paid out of current employees’ social protection contributions], the raising of statutory retirement ages, and the related requirement to pay into the system longer put seniors in a situation of economic precarity? What types of seniors are on short-term job contracts? What difficulties are they up against, and what resources do they have? Are there aspects of their situation that are specific to their age bracket?

The use of short employment contracts (under 3 months or under 1 month), initially thought of as a labor force integration stage or as odd jobs for students, has risen sharply in France.  Seniors (defined in France as age 50 or over) also work this type of contract. More and more of them are working limited-time jobs (through temp agencies or on limited-time contracts): the figure rose from 3% in 2003 to 6% in 2019.

In other brackets, immigrants and persons with little educational attainment are overrepresented among employees on short-term jobs contracts. And in these jobs, the majority of which are manual labor or low-skilled, seniors’ working conditions are very similar to young people’s. However, seniors more often work short-term job contracts for several employers simultaneously.  

On the basis of a set of qualitative interviews, three profiles were identified. 

One group of seniors have been working short job contracts all their lives. Some activity sectors (commerce, restaurant work, tourism, event work) make heavy use of short-term job contracts. Overall, these employees, whose work careers are already made up of discontinuous jobs, do not aspire to a different type of contract. 

For another group, short-term jobs—in the medical-social work section, for example —amount to secondary work activity in addition to a stable job. Short-term contracts pay better than overtime hours at the stable job. Although the motivation for working short-term contracts is first and foremost financial, most of the people in this group are interested in their complementary activities for other reasons. 

Last, and contrary to the first two profiles, short-term contracts at the end of a working life may well be the only kind of work seniors can find, and if they are the only income source, they are associated with marked material precarity vulnerability, especially if such jobs are irregular, unpredictable, and do not provide enough income. Seniors in this category, whose occupational trajectories are choppy and full of discontinuities (being fired or laid off or having a health problem, for example) aspire to a more stable situation. 

Health is a factor likely to hamper the employment of seniors, especially those on short-term jobs, where working conditions are often physically harsh. 

Overall, access to training is more difficult to obtain for people aged 50 and over, particularly for those with little educational attainment—the third group—many of whom have been left behind by technological developments. 

Also compared to younger people, seniors on short-term job contracts more often have an intimate partner and therefore may benefit from additional financial resources. Usually they no longer have dependent children, do not have young children, and are more flexible when it comes to organizing their time.

Moreover, they are more likely to be receiving unemployment benefits, governed by rules specific to their age bracket. 

Source:

Claire Vives and Delphine Remillon, 2024, Précarité, sur-emploi ou discontinuité ? Trajectoires et vécus des contrats courts pour les salarié(e)s de 50 ans et plus, Travail et emploi,173-174-175 (2-3-4): 71-99 [FR]

For more information:

Delphine Remillon, Claire Vivés, Olivier Baguelin, and Mathieu Grégoire, 2024, Contrats à durée limitée et indemnisation du chômage: Une diversité de trajectoires, Travail et emploi,173-174-175 (2-3-4): 45-70 [FR]