When the global financial crisis erupted in 2008, some expat French bankers who lost their jobs in London returned home to collect unemployment benefits of more than €7,000 (£6,140) a month.

Though an extreme example of French welfare generosity, the maximum jobless payout of €7,130 a month for two years – or three if you are near retirement – is a stark reminder of why President Emmanuel Macron wants to overhaul the system.

Having pushed through changes to France’s 3,000-page labour rule book this month, the 39-year-old President, a former investment banker himself, is looking to take on the opaque world of unemployment insurance in the weeks ahead.

The aim is to spur those who lose their jobs to get back to work more quickly and fill France’s growing number of vacancies, part of what Mr Macron terms “an unprecedented transformation of our social model and economy”.

Apart from the Communist-rooted CGT, most unions have not bothered to demonstrate against the labour law and the few demonstrations there have been – including by truckers on Monday – have struggled to get media attention.

But Mr Macron knows unemployment benefit changes are likely to encounter stronger protests, and also infuriate employers.

While usually on opposite sides of debate, France’s unions and employers are both protective of their decades-old grip over a system worth billions of euros which they manage.

“We don’t want this to become an attack on joint management because we think we have shown we can manage unemployment insurance,” said Michel Beaugas, head of labor policy at Force Ouvriere, France’s third largest union.

The government has little control over how much and for how long the unemployed receive benefits, which are negotiated by unions and employers every two to three years.

Mr Macron wants to bring the benefits fund, known by its acronym Unedic, under state control, arguing that the government should have “more than a word to say” since it guarantees the fund’s €30.5bn of debt.

For the unions, retaining a say in how Unedic is managed is equivalent to staying relevant. Membership is already among the lowest in the developed world and declining and the labour reforms have weakened their power to negotiate for employees.

Though employer federations feel less threatened, they too are reluctant to see the system slip from their grasp.

“Since workers and employers pay in contributions for unemployment, I prefer that we keep it under our control,” said Pierre Gattaz, head of the employers’ federation, Medef.

Examples of generous benefits for laid-off bankers may grab headlines, but they are more the exception than the rule.

Those covered by Unedic – which insures 2.8 million people out of a total jobless pool of 3.5 million – get benefits worth 67 per cent of their previous income, slightly below the average of 69 per cent across the European Union, according to a study by the French Treasury published in December.

Moreover, almost all of their benefit income comes from jobless insurance, while many other countries offset lower benefits with separate allotments of aid, like family allowances in Britain or tax exemptions in Germany, the Treasury said.

Though France stands out for its maximum jobless benefit of €7,130 per month before tax, the average gross payout is a more modest €1,200, according to the state employment agency, known as Pole Emploi.

The main problem is that incentives are not structured towards getting people back to work quickly, with most payments running for up to 24 months, longer than all other EU countries except Belgium and the Netherlands, the Treasury said.

High unemployment – France’s jobless rate has stood above nine per cent for six years, although it is showing signs of a decline – rather than careless generosity is the main cause of Unedic’s €3.6bn shortfall, experts say.

Unedic expects the gap to narrow rapidly in the coming years as the economy picks up jobs are created.

Business news: In pictures Show all 13 1 /13 Business news: In pictures Business news: In pictures Flybe collapses Airline Flybe has collapsed. All future flights on the Exeter-based airline have been cancelled – leaving more than 2,300 staff facing an uncertain future, and wrecking the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers. The chief executive, Mark Anderson, said: “Europe’s largest independent regional airline has been unable to overcome significant funding challenges to its business. AFP via Getty Business news: In pictures Future product placement will be 'tailored to individual viewers' Marketing executives say that product placement in films and televison shows on streaming services such as Netflix may be tailored to individuals in future. For instance, if data shows that a viewer is a fan of pepsi, a billboard in the background of a shot would host an advert for pepsi, while for a viewer known to have different tastes it could be for Coca-Cola Paramount Business news: In pictures Corbyn wishes Amazon a happy birthday In a card sent to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on the company's 25th birthday, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn writes: "You owe the British people millions in taxes that pay for the public services that we all rely on. Please pay your fair share" Business news: In pictures No deal, no tariffs The government has announced that it would slash almost all tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Notable exceptions include cars and meat, which will see tariffs in place to protect British farmers Getty Business news: In pictures Fingerprint payment NatWest is trialling a new bank card that will allow people to touch their hand to the card when paying rather than typing in a PIN number. The card will work by recognising the user's fingerprint NatWest/PA Wire Business news: In pictures Mahabis bust High-end slipper retailer Mahabis has gone into administration. 2 Jan 2019 Mahabis Business news: In pictures Costa Cola Coca-Cola has paid £3.9bn for Costa Coffee. A cafe chain is a new venture for the global soft drinks giant PA Business news: In pictures RIP Payday Loans A funeral procession for payday loans was held in London on September 2. The future of pay day lenders is in doubt after Wonga, Britain's biggest, went into administration on August 30 PA Business news: In pictures Musk irks investors and directors Elon Musk has concluded that Tesla will remain public. Investors and company directors were angry at Musk for tweeting unexpectedly that he was considering taking Tesla private and share prices had taken a tumble in the following weeks Getty Business news: In pictures Jaguar warning Iconic British car maker Jaguar Land Rover warned on July 5, 2018 that a "bad" Brexit deal could jeopardise planned investment of more than $100 billion, upping corporate pressure as the government heads into crucial talks AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures Spotif-IPO Spotify traded publically for the first time on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. However, the company isn't issuing shares, but rather, shares held by Spotify's private investors will be sold AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures French blue passports The deadline to award a contract to make blue British passports after Brexit has been extended by two weeks following a request by bidder De La Rue. The move comes after anger at the announcement British passports would be produced by Franco-Dutch firm Gemalto when De La Rue’s contract ends in July. The British firm said Gemalto was chosen only because it undercut the competition, but the UK company also admitted that it was not the cheapest choice in the tendering process. Business news: In pictures Beast from the east economic impact The Beast from the East wiped £4m off of Flybe’s revenues due to flight cancellations, airport closures and delays, according to the budget airline’s estimates. Flybe said it cancelled 994 flights in the three months to 31 March, compared to 372 in the same period last year.

And if Unedic weren’t required to finance two-thirds of the state employment agency’s budget – an annual cost of €3.3bn – it would already be close to breaking even.

Unions and employers are anxious to see what Mr Macron has up his sleeve when it comes to unemployment benefits, with only broad indications since May’s election of reform plans.

During the campaign, Mr Macron said he would extend coverage to entrepreneurs and the self-employed, while workers would get the right to resign every five years and retain benefits.

In exchange he wants to tighten the rules, stopping benefits if a person turns down more than two good job offers.

Furthermore, Mr Macron wants to change the way France spends nearly €32bn a year on professional training, fixing a system that appears to be failing, with many companies saying they cannot find qualified workers.

He wants to streamline the current raft of training schemes, which the state audit office has warned encourages fraud due to their complexity and opacity.

Although employers, exasperated that they can’t find qualified workers, are open to change, unions are wary they will once again have to give in to seeing their influence diluted.

“What we want is that the government leaves it to us to negotiate both unemployment benefits and professional training,” Force Ouvriere’s Beaugas said.

Mr Macron and the government disagree, setting the stage for a battle of wills involving labour unrest in the weeks ahead.