In Q4 2025, payroll employment fell slightly, losing 40,000 jobs after a loss of 5,000 jobs. It fell slightly year on year (-0.2%, or 46,000 jobs), with employment falling in the private sector (-60,000 jobs) while continuing to rise in the civil service (+14,000 jobs after +23,000). In particular, work-study employment (apprenticeships and “professionalisation” contracts), which had contributed significantly to the rise in total employment in recent years (accounting for around a third of the increase between end-2019 and end-2022), fell in Q2 (-46,000 in the private sector), due to a reduction in the apprentice hiring subsidy introduced from February 2025. Consequently, for 2025 as a whole, 44,000 work-study positions were cut, accounting for three quarters of the fall in private-sector payroll employment...