The declarations of AFEST (Action de Formation en Situation de Travail) to the skills operators in France have increased from 1,068 in 2022 to 10,592 in 2025. This discrepancy between the rise of on-the-job training and the promise of e-learning catalogs raises a measurable question: what do we retain better, and under what conditions, between digital learning and practical application on the job?
Retention Rate and Skill Anchoring: Digital Training vs. On-the-Job Experience
The comparison between the two modalities goes beyond a pedagogical preference. Several operational indicators allow for a concrete opposition based on specific criteria.
| Criterion | Digital Training (e-learning, MOOC) | On-the-Job Training (AFEST, tutoring on the job) |
|---|---|---|
| Learning Context | Simulated environment, standardized exercises | Real work situation, concrete problems |
| Immediate Transferability | Low: gap between the module and the actual task | High: the skill is utilized during learning |
| Adaptation to Manual or Technical Jobs | Limited (no gesture, no material) | Direct: handling tools, machines, materials |
| Cost of Large-Scale Deployment | Low per learner | Higher (involvement of a tutor, reduced production time) |
| Measurement of Acquisition | MCQs, online quizzes | Observation in situation, reflective analysis with a peer |
E-learning excels at rapidly disseminating homogeneous content to a large number of employees. However, as soon as the skill involves a gesture, contextual decision, or human interaction, digital alone is not enough to anchor know-how.
This observation is precisely what has fueled the growth of AFEST over the past three years. Companies that compare their systems find that even digital training from clubformationdigital acknowledges the necessity of articulating online paths and real situational training for operational jobs.
Elimination of FNE-Formation and Reorientation Towards On-the-Job Learning
The FNE-Formation scheme, which financed a large portion of training in centers or remotely, was eliminated on January 1, 2024. The last contracts were closed in the spring of the same year. This disappearance has altered the funding logic of companies.
Without this lever, organizations are turning to OPCOs and common law skills development plans. These channels favor pathways linked to real work rather than the mass purchase of generic online modules.
The result is reflected in the numbers: the tenfold increase in AFEST declarations between 2022 and 2025 coincides with this budgetary reorientation. Companies do not choose on-the-job training out of nostalgia. They are driven by a financial framework that values proof of acquisition in concrete situations.
What AFEST Changes in Work Organization
AFEST is not just about “learning on the job.” The scheme imposes a precise regulatory framework:
- A prior analysis of the work activity to identify the targeted skills and adapt the learning situations
- The designation of a trained facilitator, distinct from the hierarchical manager, who observes and guides the employee during the situational training
- Mandatory reflective phases, during which the learner analyzes what they did, what worked, and what they would change
This structuring distinguishes AFEST from simple informal mentoring. It forces the company to formalize the feedback as a pedagogical tool, something that online learning platforms cannot replicate.
Soft Skills and Relational Competencies: Measurable Limits of Digital
E-learning modules effectively cover declarative knowledge: regulations, procedures, technical vocabulary. However, behavioral skills, often grouped under the term soft skills, resist digitization.
Managing a customer conflict, negotiating a deadline with a supplier, adapting a sales pitch in the face of an unexpected objection: these situations require reading a social context in real-time. No e-learning scenario replicates the pressure of a real human exchange.
Sales teams, healthcare personnel, and maintenance technicians who work in private homes share this commonality: their performance depends as much on their relational ability as on their technical knowledge. Training these employees solely remotely amounts to teaching them the theory of cycling without ever letting them pedal.
Where Digital Still Plays a Useful Role
E-learning remains relevant for preparing a field session in advance. Some uses that work in complementarity include:
- Disseminating a foundation of theoretical knowledge (standards, procedures, industry vocabulary) before the situational training
- Allowing asynchronous review after a field sequence to consolidate learning
- Standardizing a mandatory regulatory training identical for all employees, regardless of the site
Digital serves as a preparation accelerator, not as a substitute for practice. Companies that achieve the best results in skill development combine both modalities in a sequenced pathway, where each format plays a defined role.
Evolution of Skills and Lifespan of Knowledge: What the Data Shows
The lifecycle of a technical skill has significantly shortened in recent years. This acceleration renders fixed training catalogs quickly obsolete, whether digital or in-person.
The difference lies in the capacity for adaptation. An e-learning module designed in January can become outdated by September if the business software has changed versions or if a standard has evolved. On-the-job training adapts in real-time to the position as it exists today, not as it was at the time the program was designed.
This also explains why OPCOs are increasingly funding hybrid pathways. The logic is no longer to choose between in-person and distance, but to determine which skill is acquired through which channel, and in what order.
French data on AFEST shows a structural shift, not a passing trend. When a scheme goes from a thousand declarations to over ten thousand in three years, it indicates that companies find measurable returns on the operational performance of their teams.
