“At the start of the morning, there was a queue to get back to the roundabout in front of the high school,” indicates Marie-Laure Donitian, vice-president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) and representative of the consular chamber for Haute Gironde. This is what we can call a great success for this meeting, organized jointly by the CCI, the Haute Gironde Industry Club, the high school and the Acip association (Advice for professional integration). On the program, for three and a half hours (from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.), meetings with resource, support and guidance structures (Acip, Mission Locale, France travail, etc.) and businesses for young people, job seekers or people looking for retraining with 200 positions on the table.
“It’s a superb operation which allows companies to be known, shows the attractiveness of the region and helps employment,” enthuses Lionel Matias, boss of A2M Proximétal, a metalwork and locksmith company in Saint -Aubin-de-Blaye and president of the UIMM Gironde-Landes (Union of Metallurgical Industries and Trades). An essentially male-dominated sector of activity, but which has decided to open up more widely to women. Lionel Matias confirms, “currently, they represent 21% of jobs, the objective is to reach 31% in ten years, it’s quite a challenge. To do this, we must make ourselves known and mentalities must also evolve among us. When a woman arrives in a workshop where there are only men, it's not easy. Women who are already working must be our ambassadors. »
We must reach out to young people and their parents, carry out operations in colleges”
Jobs to fill
Make yourself known to women, but also more widely, because without wanting to offend the sector, metallurgy does not have the most glamorous image. “But that's changing, metallurgy is no longer blast furnaces, it can carry technologies, particularly in nuclear power which is important here or aeronautics. To do this, we must reach out to young people and their parents, carry out operations in colleges, we are ready to offer training,” adds Lionel Matias. The main advantage of the sector is that it is a strong provider of jobs, “this represents 110,000 in New Aquitaine. After two years of training, you are sure to have a job.” And ASM Proximétal is one example, among others, that Haute Gironde is not without it. “Getting people to stay rather than go to Bordeaux or elsewhere is also a challenge, and for that, there is also a lot of work to be done on housing,” explains Lionel Matias.
Another company present, in a completely different field, the industrial laundry Les Lavandières d'Aquitaine”, based in Saint-André-de-Cubzac, “and we have opened a site in Saint-Paul-lès-Dax”, indicates Louis Ducarre , the director. The company's customers include hotels, accommodation, high-end restaurants in Gironde and Charente-Maritime, as well as cruise ships. “We had good feedback from the previous Forum last year and we wanted to be present. » Their needs? “Production operators and delivery drivers. We need 15 seasonal workers for our peak activity period from March to October. We are in constant progress and we hire three or four people on permanent contracts each year,” explains Louis Ducarre. The Forum was an opportunity to identify good profiles, “we are looking for demanding and committed people, knowing that we prioritize pleasure at work”.
