The debate on the new bill on immigration wanted by the government is not yet open in the Assembly. However, consultations will be organized “from November” to revise the list of occupations in tension, said Thursday the Minister of Labor Olivier Dussopt. With new measures, the government intends to promote the employment of immigrant workers in sectors with labor shortages.
“As of November, this month, I am opening consultations with the social partners (…) to, based on economic data, revise this list, ensure that the professions which are not in tension are not in this list (…) and that the trades which have become trades in tension can integrate it”, declared Olivier Dussopt on France Info. “There is already a list of shortage occupations. This list, which corresponds to about thirty professions, sectors, is fixed by decree. It has a regional variation to take account of the characteristics of the economy, and it must be revised at regular intervals. We plan to revise it for early 2023,” he added.
“This is not a massive regularization plan”
The government on Wednesday unveiled the main lines of its immigration bill, which it praised for the “balance” between tougher expulsions and an outstretched hand for immigrant workers, provided they meet professional needs. Olivier Dussopt notably pleaded for a “job in tension” residence permit, in order to recruit in sectors with a labor shortage. “It concerns between a few thousand and a few tens of thousands of people,” said the minister on France Info. This is not a massive regularization plan”.
For “people who have been in our territory for a long time, who work but who are in an irregular situation and who occupy positions today in sectors that are called shortage occupations”, what “we offer is to put an end to a form of hypocrisy and on a case-by-case basis to allow these men and women (…) to request their regularization and to obtain a residence permit in this context”, he explained. “What we offer is a case-by-case regularization. There is nothing massive about any of this,” he insisted.