Ironically, a well-intentioned law enacted in France almost three years ago to protect the poorly qualified is preventing young researchers from completing their postdoctoral training. In my view, research institutions should be exempted from its requirements.

Called the Sauvadet law, it stipulates that a worker must be appointed to a permanent position after six years of short-term contracts in the public sector. Since the law came into effect in March 2012 (and retrospectively), publicly funded research institutions — including INSERM and the CNRS — have limited the number of postdocs becoming eligible for tenure by not renewing contracts if a postdoc has already worked there for three years (see go.nature.com/vki6fq and go.nature.com/navteh; both in French).

Young researchers are therefore being forced to complete their training abroad. The law also means that invaluable laboratory engineers and senior technicians can no longer be retained under short-term contracts if a permanent position is not available. The nation urgently needs to put countermeasures in place, or risk losing crucial lab staff indefinitely.