GPEC / GEPP: long-term workforce management

GPEC (Gestion Prévisionnelle des Emplois et des Compétences — forward-looking management of jobs and skills) and GEPP (Gestion des Emplois et Parcours Professionnels — management of jobs and career paths) are two generations of the same long-term workforce management tool. Here is what you need to know to understand this instrument, which is frequently mentioned in restructuring plans.

From GPEC to GEPP: a two-step evolution

GPEC (2005-2017)

Created by the Borloo Act of 18 January 2005, GPEC aimed to anticipate changes in employment in order to adapt employees' skills and avoid abrupt terminations. It was a forward-looking, regulatory approach.

GEPP (since 2017)

The Macron Ordinances of 22 September 2017 replaced GPEC with GEPP. The change is more than a renaming: GEPP is more dynamic and incorporates individual career paths, mobility, retraining and employability throughout one's career.

In practice, businesses often use "GPEC" and "GEPP" interchangeably, but the current instrument is, in legal terms, GEPP.

Who is required to negotiate a GEPP agreement?

Type of company	Obligation
Companies with ≥ 300 employees	Mandatory negotiation every three years
Community-scale groups with ≥ 150 employees in France	Mandatory negotiation every three years
Companies with < 300 employees	No obligation, but possible

Legal reference: Article L2242-20 of the French Labour Code.

The mandatory content of a GEPP agreement

At a minimum, the agreement must address:

• The company's strategy over a 3-year horizon and its foreseeable impacts on employment;
• The broad orientations of vocational training over 3 years;
• The prospects for using the various types of employment contracts, part-time work and internships;
• The conditions for internal occupational or geographic mobility;
• The career paths and the development of skills;
• The arrangements for informing and consulting the CSE.

GEPP: a preventive management tool, not a redundancy mechanism

Unlike the PSE, the PDV or the RCC, GEPP is not a workforce-reduction mechanism as such. It can, however, incorporate measures that moderate or avoid abrupt restructurings:

• Non-replacement of natural departures (retirements, resignations, expiry of fixed-term contracts);
• Enhanced internal mobility across roles, sites and even subsidiaries;
• Voluntary redundancy plan (PDV) built into the agreement;
• Specific schemes for senior employees (TPS, skills-based sponsorship, phased early retirement);
• Training and retraining funded by the company.

The model case: Orange France 2024

The 2025-2027 GEPP agreement of Orange France, signed unanimously by all representative trade unions (CFDT, CFE-CGC, CGT, FO, SUD), is a perfect illustration of how a GEPP can be used to manage a long-term trajectory:

• Orange France headcount: 105,000 in 2012 → 71,000 at the end of 2025 (-34,000 jobs in 13 years);
• Method: non-replacement of natural departures (-2,500/year in 2024);
• TPS scheme (Temps Partiel Sénior — part-time work for senior employees);
• Large-scale internal retraining.

No media wave of PSE announcements — the GEPP made it possible to achieve a major workforce reduction discreetly.

The hybrid case: SG × Crédit du Nord 2022

The social support agreement signed in February 2022 at Société Générale for the merger with Crédit du Nord combines three instruments within a single framework: GPEC + RCC + non-replacement. The result: 3,700 job cuts while avoiding the classic PSE format and its media impact.

Why is GEPP of interest to employees?

• Long-term visibility on how your position is evolving;
• Internal mobility opportunities before your position comes under threat;
• Easier access to training and retraining;
• Attractive senior schemes if you are nearing the end of your career;
• A calmer industrial-relations climate than an imposed PSE.

The limits of GEPP

• The agreement is negotiated, not imposed — if the employer drags its feet, the GEPP remains theoretical;
• The compensation provided for in a PDV built into a GEPP is often less generous than that of a PSE negotiated under pressure;
• The duration of the plan (3 years) may seem long to employees seeking immediate visibility.

In summary

• GPEC = GEPP: the same tool, two generations (before and after 2017);
• Three-yearly obligation for companies with 300+ employees;
• Not a direct redundancy mechanism, but it can incorporate PDV, mobility, training and senior schemes;
• Used to manage long-term trajectories without a high-profile PSE.