France’s national job centre network Pôle Emploi is to take on 2,000 people into new permanent jobs.

The announcement was made by Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault yesterday, saying he “expects quick implementation” of the plan and wants the new advisers to be in place by September.

This comes after 1,800 roles were cut at the body in 2011, and is in addition to internal redeployment measures that have in effect themselves put 2,000 full-time equivalent workers into Pôle Emploi.

At the end of December, the total employment centre workforce amounted to nearly 53,000 people, according to Le nouvel observateur.

The paper notes that the number of unemployed people is the highest it has been since 1997, at 3.2m. The French unemployment rate has stood above 10% since early February, according to Eurostat, having been in single figures since mid-2000.

The announcement also saw the PM support expanding the ‘Emploi d'Avenir' (Jobs of the future) scheme aiding young people into work, under which not-for-profit companies will see a maximum 75% of the new recruits’ wages paid by the state, with commercial firms able to apply for up to 35%.