One hundred days before the Olympic Games, followed by the Paralympics, the Île-de-France region is on the final sprint to organize the celebration. At the start of the year, it launched a major recruitment campaign and set a target of 20,000 training places. So far, 15,000 have been deployed and equipped. The objective of the program is to train a large number of Ile-de-France residents in private security and crowd control skills.
Faced with this major challenge, the public authorities have worked hard to make their offer attractive: a bonus of 2,000 euros, granted to learners certified in safety (under conditions) since the last Rugby World Cup 2023. In addition, the Île-de-France region, in partnership with France Travail (formerly Pôle emploi), wants to ensure that the people mobilized for the occasion benefit from support for returning to employment.
A wish notably supported by its president, Valérie Pécresse: “We have defined bridges between professions. For example, it was necessary to imagine the additional path that could be offered to a security agent so that he could become a fire safety agent in buildings, a municipal police officer, a prison guard or even an airport security agent, a highly sought-after profession. » To avoid leaving anyone on the sidelines, a recruitment platform should see the light of day in mid-June. Important point to underline: in addition to newly trained security agents to ensure the smooth running of Paris 2024, employees in the sector who would like to change professional direction as well as volunteers are also affected.
A platform for professional integration after the Games
If its name or date of arrival remains to be determined, an online recruitment site would allow Olympic workers, whoever they may be, to find work related to the skills they have learned and mobilized for the event. The community claims to have prepared the ground in advance: “We managed to convince around twenty companies, including some from the CAC40 such as Sodexo or Société Générale, to join this initiative and place job offers at the same time as the Games, at their end, and we do not intend to stop there,” specifies Baptiste Orlandini, economics, innovation, employment and training advisor to Valérie Pécresse.
Security workers should therefore be able to find opportunities in the private sector, but also in the public sector. As suggested by the declaration of the former 2022 presidential candidate, security workers will be able to benefit in particular from support and preparation for the police competition.
A tense market
Bernard Thibault, member of the organizing committee for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games and former secretary general of the CGT, highlighted the urgency of recruiting agents for the quadrennial event at France Info in January. But this problem affects the whole of France, and the Brittany region followed suit in December 2023 by launching also an important recruitment system for security agents.
According to Baptiste Orlandini, this tension can be explained by several factors: “The sector lacks attractiveness because the hours are very difficult. Collective agreements can specify up to 12 hours of work per day. And even if the security branch has made a big effort on salaries, they often remain low and close to the minimum wage. » Olympics or not, the transfer received at the end of the month should not deviate from these standards for the guardians of the Olympics. The region announces a salary of 1,850 euros gross per month on average for Games security agents. Nevertheless, the training objectives for April have been achieved according to Baptiste Orlandini. There are “only” 5,000 left. But until the finish line is crossed, history cruelly reminds us that anything can happen.