In 2021 the number of benefi ciaries of assisted contracts (excluding sandwich contracts) rebounded slightly after fi ve consecutive years of sharp decline. These contracts are intended for a public who are furthest from the labour market and they are mainly fi lled in the non-market sector. There was only a limited number of these contracts in 2021 and they therefore had little eff ect on payroll employment during the crisis, as employment support measures were mainly applied through other channels (e.g. massive take-up of short-time working and the growth of sandwich contracts for young people).