The Carcassonne Local Integration Mission has just opened its “Gaming House”. With this new structure, the organization is banking on video games to attract young people and train them for audiovisual careers. Explanations.
With 17.3% of workers aged between 15 and 24 unemployed in 2022 (figure from the observatory of youth, sport, association life and popular education), finding solutions to allow young people to access the world of work is more than ever a necessity in France.
With this in mind, certain local integration missions have decided to innovate to promote the professional integration of young people. This is particularly the case of the MLI of Carcassonne which has chosen to focus on video games. Indeed, in December 2023 and with the support of the State, the MLI of the famous medieval city launched its Gaming House, a space that combines JV and training in audiovisual professions.
Video games to help young people access the world of work
This innovative project is led by Nekzioh, a streamer who now has more than 35,000 subscribers on Twitch and also at the head of his production house called Geeyuk. Concretely, the idea is to bring young people closer to employment through video games. To do this, candidates follow a two week program organized as follows: gaming sessions in the morning, and training in audiovisual and digital professions in the afternoon as a manager, host, editor or even editorialist. With the following objective in mind: create a Twitch show from A to Z which will be broadcast on the Labonidée channel.
On the first day, new registrants play Minecraft (but also other titles) all day. Choosing Minecraft is not trivial, the title from Mojang Studios offers vast freedom of action. A sandbox appearance which allows Nekzioh and his team to detect and analyze certain soft skills Or soft kills candidates like:
- stress management
- decision making
- inventiveness
- team work
- adaptability to solve certain problems
Also read: Video games help reduce stress and feelings of isolation, according to this survey
Long-term follow-up
Nekzioh then establishes profiles and candidates are then assigned to a position suited to their abilities. Note that sports workshops are also planned: “Even in the digital field, it is important to have good health and be fit to be effective,” explained the videographer in the columns of our colleagues at L’Indépendant.
With this training period, the young people are not released into the wild, on the contrary. They can, if they wish, continue to exchange with Nekzioh and his teams, to supporting them, for example, in the creation of their own business, improving their CV, developing their professional network, etc. Let us point out that the MLI of Carcassonne is not the first to have tried the Gaming House experience, the title going to the MLI of Aix-en-Provence near Marseille. Another similar structure should see the light of day in 2024 in Villeneuve-sur-Lot as well.