The “JO effect” on the French economy has been revised upwards. The preparation and hosting of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in the summer of 2024 should mobilize 181,000 jobs in the construction, tourism sectors and the various professions linked to the organization of the event itself. A previous estimate, in 2019, estimated this “JO effect” at 150,000 jobs.
These figures were revealed Thursday September 21 by the Center for Sports Law and Economics (CDES) in Limoges, five days before a “The Games are recruiting” day, organized by Paris 2024, and which will be held at the Cité du cinéma , in the future Olympic village, in Saint-Denis (Seine-Saint-Denis).
Be careful, however! Saying that the Games created 181,000 jobs does not mean that that many jobs were created. Behind this number “there are already existing jobs”, recognizes Mr. Lepetit. “But despite everything, there are jobs that will be created”he adds, acknowledging that he cannot answer, at this stage, the question: how much? “We will know that after the Games. INSEE will carry out evaluation work. »
The upward reassessment of the number of jobs drained by the Games is largely due to a greater estimate of the needs for the organizational part of the event: this should mobilize 89,300 jobs (including 73,200 in the Island). de-France), when in 2019 78,300 jobs were mentioned.
“In 2019, we relied on figures from [du dossier de] application, which we had updated. The Paris 2024 project has been refined since then »notes Christophe Lepetit, head of economic studies and partnerships at CDES.
The effect on the tourism sector has also been revised slightly upwards: 61,800 jobs should be mobilized in the coming months (this figure applies to Ile-de-France alone), when we were talking about 60,000 a year ago. is four years old. This mobilization for the Olympics should begin a little further ahead of the Games than was anticipated.
The construction sector will have ultimately mobilized 30,000 jobs thanks to the Games (compared to 11,700 estimated in 2019), these needs being ” behind us “notes Mr. Lepetit, since the various projects are being finished.
Furthermore, the figure does not include the 450,000 “volunteers” – volunteers – that Paris 2024 intends to recruit.
“A fantastic opportunity, but also a formidable challenge”
“More than 180,000 jobs mobilized is a tremendous opportunity, but it is also a formidable challenge for certain sectors”warns Cécile Martin, project director at the General Delegation for Employment and Vocational Training (Ministry of Labor), who cites above all private security and catering.
These sectors, which will be in greatest demand by the Olympics (more than 48,000 jobs for catering, more than 26,000 jobs for private security), are also those “who are already experiencing structural recruitment tensions”she adds.
The most critical situation concerns private security, with a shortage of manpower even before the Games. This is why the State has chosen to support, since 2022, players in this sector, the objective being to be able to offer them 15,000 trained candidates.
“We have already hired 6,200 people, 6,700 people have entered training, including 29% women, and 1,000 students trained, with the aim of reaching 3,000”details Hélène Moutel, deputy regional director of Pôle emploi in Ile-de-France, confirming the figures given, on September 7, by the prefecture of the Ile-de-France region, with whom this work is carried out.
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Not sure this is enough. Hence, for months, the insistence of the Court of Auditors that the State act as quickly as possible “the probable use of internal security forces and armies to compensate for this deficit”.
Paris 2024 faces a “quite monstrous step to take”
The Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Cojop) itself is directly concerned by the recruitment problem. It will have to go from around 1,700 people at present to around 2,000 at the end of the year, reaching more than 4,000 by the time of the Games. “The step is quite monstrous to overcome”recognizes Chantal Lasnier, the deputy director for talents and diversity, who explains that for the structure it is a question of having more operational teams, in order to “deploy site by site the different levels of service that we will provide to the different stakeholders of the Games”.
“The exercise is not easy, we are not going to hide it”
Regarding catering, Sodexo Live!, which will be in charge of the athletes’ village as well as fourteen competition sites, has for example estimated its needs at 6,000 people – mainly in Paris and the Paris region. The company has identified 1,000 internally (600 employees and 400 of their relatives) and is entering, as of Thursday, September 21, into a “active recruitment phase” external.
This will extend until March 2024, according to Boris Pincot, the vice-president in charge of human resources. “40% of positions require a particular technical qualification, but 60% do not”he details, explaining that“a specific website will be accessible, with already seven hundred offers online, so that interested people can apply”these must be “immediately contacted for a job dating [rencontre professionnelle] “.
Sodexo Live! considers, however, that this will not be sufficient to achieve its objective. “We have to get as close as possible to the field, because not everyone necessarily feels mobilized by the Olympics, or does not give themselves the right to participate in them”explains Mr. Pincot, who recalls that the company has also made a commitment to have 15% of recruitments in priority neighborhoods: “For this we work with Pôle emploi on forums to meet job seekers and explain the project to them. »
First of these meetings: The Games are recruiting day, September 26, in Saint-Denis. This will bring together around fifty companies (from the hotel and catering industry, cleaning, waste management and recycling, sport and events, security, transport logistics, and energy ). Nearly 16,000 jobs are to be filled, according to Paris 2024.
“It is certain that the exercise is not easy, we will not hide it, because the sectors [clés] of the Games, are those who are experiencing recruitment tensions, relieves Mme Moutel, from Pôle emploi. But the fact of having anticipated and the mobilization of all stakeholders means that we are confident, and it is not in the spirit of the Games to admit defeat. »
Support the structuring of a major sporting and cultural events sector
The mapping of jobs mobilized during the Games is intended to have an effect beyond the summer 2024 event. “It must serve, for those involved in the public employment service, to help structure a sector of major sporting and cultural events which in fact does not exist”, explains Christophe Lepetit, from the Center for Sports Law and Economics in Limoges. The study was thus carried out as part of a Commitment for the development of employment and skills (Edec) concluded in 2019 by 19 professional branches, the State and Paris 2024. “The idea is to use the attractiveness factor of major sporting events, such as the Rugby World Cup or the Games, to anticipate job needs and provide the sectors with skills,” explains Mr. Lepetit.