France wants to pay chunk of young hires' salaries

PARIS (AP) - The French government is offering to pay most of the salaries of 100,000 young people hired next year in the hopes of driving down the country's unemployment rate.

France's unemployment rate is 10 per cent, but 22.8 per cent for those under 25. French employers are especially reluctant to hire young people because restrictive labour laws make it very hard for companies to lay off new employees.

Under the plan, unveiled at a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, companies that hire people between 16 and 25 for at least a year will only have to pay 25 per cent of their salary.

The government estimates that the plan will cost 2.3 billion euros (S$3.6 billion) in 2013. It plans to add another 50,000 contracts in 2014.