France Travail: employees facing an increase in attacks

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France Travail (formerly Pôle emploi) reveals that it has been confronted with an increase in attacks in 2023. On average, each of the 900 agencies in the country recorded 18 attacks over the year.

It is a document that says a lot about the tension that reigns today in the agencies of France Travail, former Pôle emploi. An internal document from the public establishment revealed by the website Politicaland to which franceinfo had access, reported a sharp increase in the number ofassaults in all agencies last year. In total, these are almost 16,000 reports (15,906) which were made, or on average almost 18 per agency. A figure, which, according to our colleagues, includes all types of attacks: behavioral attacks (2,325), physical attacks (143)verbal aggression (6,885), incivility (3,513) and expressions of suicidal intent by users (3,040)

And at overall increase is 12% compared to 2022, incivility is even more numerous, as are behavioral attacks (+17%). In four years, incivility has even jumped by 82%! Verbal attacks are also more significant (+8%), while physical attacks remain stable and represent “only” 1% of the total number of attacks. However, of the 143 listed in 2023, approximately a third affected agents in an agency France Work or nearby. As for suicidal intentions, they have also been on a constant rise since 2019, having tripled.

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A climate of “delinquency”

How can we explain these increasingly dangerous behaviors of jobseekers ? Questioned by franceinfo, the general secretary of the Snap union, Laurent Mérique, discusses the “tensions which exist in particular in relation to the labor market”but also the “pressure that is put on job seekers who are not sufficiently active in their search”. There are also the concerns of the French regarding the reforms of unemployment insurance. So many reasons which “effectively ensure that the reception conditions [des] users cause them to be more verbally and physically aggressive”.

In the document revealed by Politis, France Travail speaks of global context in a country of “delinquency” or almost “all indicators are on the rise”. Since the assassination of a councilor in Drôme in 2021 (the appeal trial of her assassin Gabriel Fortin, sentenced at first instance to life imprisonment, will take place in May), France Travail has asked its agents to report any act of aggression. The institution will also generalize video surveillance in its centers. Training is also provided to deal with suicide threats and exercises on armed intrusions are implemented.