On the French island of La Réunion, 40,300 young people are neither working nor in education or training—even as more of them earn diplomas than previous generations.
The number lays bare a structural disconnect: gains in schooling are not translating into comparable gains in employment. And the scale of the problem suggests something bigger than individual academic paths—an economy that isn’t keeping pace with a better-educated youth population.
A labor market that can’t absorb a more qualified generation
Educational attainment on the island is rising. But the local economy is not creating enough skilled jobs to absorb this more highly trained cohort.
The result is that high school graduates and holders of BTS (a two-year postsecondary credential in France) or university degrees can end up in the same situation as those who left school without a diploma. In La Réunion, a degree offers less protection against unemployment than it does in mainland France.
The pattern isn’t new, but it is worsening as each new wave of graduates grows while job creation fails to keep the same pace.
What the figure 40,300 actually captures
The 40,300 figure refers to what statisticians call “NEETs”—young people “Not in Employment, Education or Training.” It’s a broad category that includes very different realities: young people disconnected for years, recent graduates who are searching without finding work, and single parents who are forced to pause their careers or studies.
That single number can make the group look uniform when it isn’t. But the island’s NEET levels are described as well above the national average, reflecting decades of structurally high unemployment.
Pourquoi le diplôme ne suffit plus à La Réunion
The paradox at the heart of La Réunion’s model
Why don’t more degrees translate into less unemployment? The article points to several overlapping factors. La Réunion’s economy remains concentrated in a handful of sectors—commerce, tourism, and public services—that don’t always offer opportunities matching the qualifications young people are earning.
Private-sector companies able to hire managers or advanced technicians are relatively few. And while some young people do move to mainland France for work, that option is not available—or appealing—to everyone.
Analysts also repeatedly cite a mismatch between training programs and the island’s actual labor-market needs. Training young people for jobs that are scarce locally can mechanically lead to underemployment, downward mobility, or inactivity.
Job-placement programs stretched beyond capacity
With numbers this large, support structures are described as being pushed beyond their nominal capacity—local youth employment missions, France’s employment agency (Pôle emploi), and overseas-specific programs.
One of the most frequently cited tools in La Réunion is the Service militaire adapté (SMA), a French program that trains and helps place young people facing difficulties. But its reach remains limited compared with the number of young people affected.
National public policies, the article argues, struggle to calibrate responses to a territory where unemployment among 15- to 29-year-olds is structurally higher than in mainland France.
A warning sign for policymakers
Behind the paradox is a basic question of alignment between education policy and economic policy. Investing in training without building a productive local economy capable of employing those graduates risks simply postponing the problem.
La Réunion has an increasingly qualified youth population. The challenge, the article concludes, is building an economy that matches it.
Jeunes NEET à La Réunion : les chiffres à retenir
- 40 300 jeunes réunionnais sont sans emploi ni formation malgré une progression du niveau de diplôme
- Le phénomène NEET à La Réunion dépasse structurellement les moyennes nationales
- L'inadéquation entre formations et besoins du marché local est identifiée comme facteur aggravant
- Le Service militaire adapté (SMA) est l'un des rares outils d'insertion spécifiques au territoire
