Public sector Recruitment System and challenges in France Simon Loréal Directorate-General for Public Admnistration and Civil Service - France EUPAN WL Meeting 10-11 April 2018

SUMMARY Key figures and Principles of the French Civil Service 2. Recruitment system 3. Modernising the recruitment

Key figures and Principles of the French Civil Service France : 66 million inhabitants 5.4 million public servants i.e. 1/5th of the active population in three branches of civil service Branch of civil service Workforce (in millions) Employer Civil service general statute 5.4 State civil service, Local civil service, Hospital civil service State civil service 2.4 Ministerial departments, national Administrative Public Establishments (EPA) Local civil service 1.8 Regions, departments, and municipalities, local administrative public establishments Hospital civil service 1.1 Hospitals, public care establishments State civil service: 2.4 million, of which: Ministries 1,9 million Local State administrations 60% Middle and high schools 30% National public entities 500 000 Local civil service: 1.9 million, of which: Municipalities 1 million “Départements” 300 000 Regions 80 000 Local public entities 500 000 Hospital civil service: 1.1 million Public employment, other than civil service, covers : Public organizations like social security Private organizations with a majority public shareholding Public firms like Engie or Orange And represents more than 6.5 million employees, about 1/4th of the active population

Key figures and Principles of the French Civil Service Permanent civil servants (80% of staff) are clustered into corps (301), i.e. groups of civil servants submitted to the same particular rules regarding: The type of competitive examination for their recruitment The nature of the positions they are deemed to hold and the scheme of administrations they shall work for The structure of their advancement process Each corps : belongs to a category : category A : policy-making, management and supervision staff category B : application - middle-ranked staff category C : execution - unskilled and semi-skilled staff is structured in several grades (2 or 3), levels, to which a level of remuneration is attached Advancement from one level to another is based on seniority (e.g. 2 to 3 years in general) to a higher grade based on seniority or of being successful to a professional examination. Promotion to a higher corps is accessible through examination or experience / expertise Around 340 different corps in the State civil service

SUMMARY Key figures and Principles of the French Civil Service 2. Recruitment system 3. Modernising the recruitment

Recruitment system Two features distinguish the French recruitment system : → the importance of the competitive examination ; → the link between selection (competitive examination) and training (professional schools).

Recruitment system Governed by the principle of equal access to public positions and jobs Article 6 of the 1789 French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen Open to citizens from member countries of the European Economic Area Competitive examination (“concours”) is the common mode of recruitment of civil servants, except for : Contractual staff (around 20%) “Discretionary positions” : very Top Managers (around 450 people e.g. central administration directors, prefects, ambassadors) Non-competitive hiring for unskilled personnel (less than 700 / year) In the State civil service : 66 000 recruitments in 2014 by competitive examination (45 000 on external competition, i.e. 68%) From 2004 to 2014, the number of State civil servants has decreased: retirement increase (“oldies boom”) and non-replacement policies Decrease in the State civil service 2014/2004 : -0,9 % BUT +0,4% for the whole civil service, all 3 branches included (+2% in Local, +1% in Hospital) Same increase, +0,4%, for employment as a whole, public & private sectors.

Recruitment system Different types of competitive examinations (around 400 sessions yearly): External competition: for who meet the nationality and degree criteria Internal competition: for public-sector employees who seek promotion and meet a seniority criterion Special competition (“third competition”): for people with professional experience outside the public sector Competition based on qualifications: for highly and specific qualified professionals Civil servants start their career as trainees, generally for 1 or 2 years. Training generally takes place in a specialized public service school or training institute (close link between recruitment and training system). After this probation and on-the-job training period, they are granted confirmation (“titularisation”) provided they properly fulfilled their duties

Recruitment system DGAFP - Recruitment policy - Controle of the regulatory framework (statutory orders, ministerial orders), - Countersignature of authorization of the competitive examination starting procedures Ministry or recruiter service - Identification of recruitment needs - Material (logistic) and legal (regulatory texts, jury) organization - Management of the laureates Jury Composed in accordance of the regulatory framework of each competitive examination, obligation of gender balance The jury is sovereign Services providers Shared service centers, equipment suppliers for the room, printers, transporters … The candidates…

SUMMARY Key figures and Principles of the French Civil Service 2. Recruitment system 3. Modernising the recruitment

Modernising the recruitment Revision of the content and methods of competitions (1) Objective: a less academic and more professional recruitment  Tests adapted to the required skills : testing knowledge, “know-how“ skills, “know-how-to-be” skills (soft skills) and motivation What we want to avoid : Tests not adapted to the skills sought (too academic) ; Multiple options not related to jobs performed; General culture questions for category C (execution staff) Insufficiently differentiated tests between the different ways of access 11

Modernising the recruitment Revision of the content and methods of competitions (2) Objective: a less academic and more professional recruitment  Tests adapted to the required skills : testing knowledge, “know-how“ skills, “know-how-to-be” skills (soft skills) and motivation What we promote : Reducing the number of tests Focusing on practical situation tests More third competitions (private sector experience) and professional exams Developing interviews based on career paths and skills acquired (RAEP) for internal (even external) competitions : based on a file prepared by the candidate (standard template), evaluate candidate's professional background, training, skills, strengths and motivations related to the position/corps. More Grids for evaluation used by juries during oral tests (knowledge, know-how, soft skills, motivation) and more transparency (publication) Increasing coefficients of interview tests in the competitions 12

Modernising the recruitment 2) Professionalization of juries Better recruiting on the basis of talents and abilities : training for juries for interviewing techniques, evaluation grids to assess candidates' qualifications, non-discrimination issues diversity of juries composition (gender balanced, recruitment professional…) exchanges of good practices between members of juries. 3) Mobilisation of candidates pools (1) - By communication: SCORE (online platform with centralized information on all competitions), BIEP (online platform with all State job offers), RIME (Interdepartmental Directory of State trade) and DICO (Dictionary of skills) - By Networking : information on occupations and ways of recruitment, especially in universities and higher education institutions schools. 13

Modernising the recruitment 3) Mobilisation of candidates pools (2) - By opening up to new skills: developing the 3rd competitions (people with professional experience outside the public sector). - By the knowledge of the profiles of the candidates: the "Base competition" will help gather data on candidates and develop statistics to adjust the recruitment actions to the imbalances and shortcomings observed (2020) - By diversity measures : Recruitment for “reserved jobs” : people with disabilities (minimum of 6%) Social criteria (until 28 or after 45 years old ) : Diversity allowances Integrated preparatory classes (CPI) PrAB contract for category A and B “PACTE” recruitment for category C 14

Questions ? simon.loreal@finances.gouv.fr