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法国最近反对有可能增加雇主解雇年轻工人自由修正案的抗议浪潮是否是塞翁失马，焉知非福呢？希拉克总统为了平息抗议不得不撤回那一条款，而提议用雇佣补贴来降低年轻人的失业问题。德国正在实行相关的有针对性的工资补贴。
主张更大劳动力市场灵活性的人们坚持说，付钱给雇主们来雇佣年轻人不得其法。他们认为，如果允许雇主们更为容易地解雇工人，那么他们就会更愿意雇佣员工。但是，这一方法的局限性是，自由的劳动力市场既不会消除失业，也不会把处于边缘的低端工人们转化为具有高生产力和高工资的雇员。如果法德两国拟议中的补贴存在缺点的话，那就是他们并非没有必要，而是力度不够。
在西方先进经济体中，所有年龄段的许多人实际上都被排除在正式工作之外。在美国，低技能工人的工资实在过低，以至于如果他们的情况不是太过悲惨的话，他们就觉得干一份工作时间太长是一件情感上很困难的事情，或者他们变得意志消沉、心猿意马而无法成为称职的雇员，或者最低工资法律使得遵纪守法的雇主们无法支付得起给他们工作。在欧洲，劳工协议以及某些情况下的最低工资法律将这些人排斥在就业大门之外。在这两种情况下，这些工人失去了大多数正规工作所提供的参与和个人发展的机会。
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