Paris job centres raise security before unemployment benefits reform

Job centres in the Paris region are introducing tighter security measures for staff amid fears they could face hostility aggression when reforms of the country's benefits system enter force on Friday.
Officials procured hundreds of security bracelets that staff can use to raise the alarm, flashing lights and sirens, broadcaster France Inter reported on Thursday, citing internal labour administration documents.
A new formula for calculating benefits is part of the reform, and could lead to a reduction in the amount of money paid to some recipients. For others, the reform will mean unemployment benefits are paid out for longer.
The fears about job centre staff safety are not unfounded, after two women from the employment and human resources departments were shot dead by an unemployed man in southern France earlier this year.
The man was also thought to be behind the fatal shooting of a personnel officer in Alsace and an attack on another HR officer there.