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Almost a year ago, Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire announced: “For the first time in decades, we are opening more factories than we are closing. » This observation immediately raises the question: do we have the necessary manpower to carry out the ambitious policy of reindustrialization of our country?
This question is already at the center of the concerns of manufacturers who are struggling to fill all the offered positions. Between 2017 and 2022, the number of industrial vacancies has tripled to 60,000. Skills shortages are widespread and a powerful obstacle to our productive recovery.
This problem is partly due to our training equipment. In a recent note, think tank La Fabrique de l’industrie confirms that the industry is theoretically capable of providing the workforce needed for the sector’s recruitment needs. But about half of the cohorts trained “evaporate”, and so they flee from industrial professions to other professional horizons, especially to the title of engineer. This deficit must be filled, but not only that.
You also need to make sure you are training at the right skill level. The main focus is on the lack of engineers. However, we are not fully aware of the urgent need to train technicians and technical managers as well. In factory, these executives are at the interface between operators and engineers, providing them with their knowledge of processes and installations.
Triple the flow of graduates
They are the pillars of the industrial system. But France does not raise enough of them, while many economic sectors will need qualified technicians, for example for maintenance in the construction and energy industries or the military industry. The current flow of 50,000 skilled technicians per year should certainly triple.
The reality of the numbers is brutal. As the Academy of Technologies points out, this lack risks hindering any policy of reindustrialisation and energy transition. In the production-oriented sections: science and technology of industry and sustainable development (STI2D) and science and laboratory technology (STL), only a quarter of technical graduates graduate today. Only half of them go to VŠCHT (VŠCHT) or higher technician section (STS), which is largely insufficient to provide training for production technicians.
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