A colleague who has been in logistics for eight years is taking an evening payroll management course without resigning, while keeping his salary. Since January 2026, the professional retraining period allows exactly this type of pathway. One can aim for a new qualification while remaining an employee, without starting from scratch.
2026 Retraining Period: What the Decree Changes for Permanent Employees
Since February 13, 2026, any permanent employee can request a professional retraining period without needing to justify any seniority. The previous Pro-A scheme required a minimum duration in the company. This constraint has disappeared with decree no. 2026-40 of January 28, 2026.
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In practical terms, one alternates between work and training to aim for a specific qualification while staying in their original company. The process is structured in three steps: clarifying the project, choosing the modality (part-time, grouped training blocks), and securing funding. A single scheme replaces the navigation between several regimes.
For profiles hesitating between a mutual termination and internal transition, this framework changes the game. One retains their contract, seniority, and health insurance. The employer, for their part, keeps an employee who is upskilling for a position they can fill internally.
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Feedback varies on this point, as not all employers welcome the request with the same enthusiasm, but the law is established. A detailed analysis can be found on the Scooporama site for changing careers, which breaks down the administrative steps of this new scheme.
CPF Funding and Out-of-Pocket Costs: The Calculation to Make Before Starting
The CPF remains the main lever to finance a retraining without spending money out of pocket, but the rule has changed. Since April 2, 2026, the mandatory out-of-pocket cost per CPF file has increased from 103.20 euros to 150 euros (decree no. 2026-234 of March 30, 2026). The increase seems modest, but it adds to the actual cost of long training courses that the CPF balance does not always cover.
Before choosing a training course, one should do the calculation:
- Check your CPF balance on moncompteformation.gouv.fr and compare it with the total price of the targeted training
- Identify if the employer can contribute to the CPF as part of the retraining period (company co-financing)
- Look into Transitions Pro for the professional transition project (PTP), which maintains salary during training for eligible employees
- Request additional support from France Travail if the project leads to a job in demand in the region
The classic trap: enrolling in a certification training course without checking that the certification is recognized by the professional branches of the targeted sector. A certification not listed in the RNCP guarantees nothing in the job market.
PTP or Retraining Period: Two Different Logics
The professional transition project (PTP) is aimed at employees who want to leave their job for another, with salary maintenance during training. The retraining period, on the other hand, keeps the employee within the company to change their position or function.
Choosing between the two is not random. If the targeted job exists at the current employer, the retraining period is more straightforward. If aiming for a completely different sector, the PTP remains the appropriate path.
Transferable Skills: Identifying What Already Holds Value
The fear of “starting over” often comes from underestimating what one already knows how to do. A team leader in fast food who transitions to project management in a company directly transfers team coordination, priority management under pressure, and daily reporting.
Listing transferable skills before seeking training avoids paying to learn what one already masters. The skills assessment, funded by the CPF, is specifically designed to map these acquired skills. However, one can start alone with a simple method:
- Take the last three jobs and note, for each, the recurring tasks that do not depend on the sector (planning, negotiation, writing, data analysis)
- Identify situations where one solved a new problem without prior training (documented adaptability)
- Compare this list to the ROME job sheets from France Travail for the targeted position, and identify overlaps
This step takes half a day. It allows one to target a short training course on only the missing skill blocks rather than a complete twelve-month curriculum.
Testing the Targeted Job Before Committing to Long Training
One can finance, plan, train, and discover after six months that the job does not match the imagined daily life. This scenario affects a significant portion of retraining efforts.
Before mobilizing their CPF or setting up a PTP file, two concrete actions reduce this risk. The first: contact professionals currently in the target job and ask them operational questions (actual hours, physical constraints, salary range at the start of the journey, insertion rate after training). Professional networks and job groups on LinkedIn facilitate this process.
The second: conduct a professional immersion via France Travail, even while being employed. The PMSMP (Period of Situational Immersion in a Professional Environment) scheme allows one to spend a few days in a company in the targeted sector without breaking their employment contract. One observes, exchanges, and confronts their projection with the reality on the ground.
A solid professional retraining pathway in 2026 does not start with enrolling in training. It starts with a test, a funding calculation, and a careful reading of one’s own acquired skills. The new regulatory framework provides concrete tools to move forward without resigning, provided they are used in the right order.