to ensure security during the Games, the government does not rule out recruiting from French-speaking countries

To ensure that a sufficient number of private security agents will be mobilized in the summer of 2024 on the various sites of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (JOP), the public authorities have been seeking to activate, for several months now, various levers . While this sector is facing a labor shortage in France, one of the options, to meet the objective of having 22,000 agents every day for the duration of the event, could be to recruit outside France. “We will also look for complementary strengths, perhaps in French-speaking countries”explained Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, the Minister of Sports and JOP, during a hearing at the National Assembly on March 1.

On January 24, during the debate in the Senate on the Olympic bill, Gérald Darmanin, the Minister of the Interior had opted for a deliberately optimistic speech on the same subject: “We believe that a large country like France is capable of responding to this private security issue”, he assured, while considering that the public authorities and the Games Organizing Committee (Cojop), which will be responsible for securing the competition sites, had ” well advanced ” : “we have 11,000 to 12,000 [personnes] who meet the criteria.

The government has, in this case, set in motion various actions to boost or support the necessary recruitments. First by trying to convince those who have the title to exercise this profession, but who, today, do not exercise it”, to return to this sector, reminded Ms. Oudéa-Castéra before the deputies.

During the confinements linked to Covid-19, many of these agents reoriented themselves towards other activities, such as logistics. Bringing them back to security looks complicated, even if security companies have made efforts to strengthen their attractiveness (more open-ended contracts, remuneration increased on January 1 by 7.5%, after + 3, 5% in 2022).

“The government is very mobilized, with a contribution of 13 million euros for skills upgrading, to enable these people, who have the qualifications to practice the profession of private security guard, to maintain this employability” , added Ms. Oudéa-Castéra.

Creation of a simplified event security title

But as the call to this “existing pool” will not be enough, it is towards two others “fish ponds”, to use the terms used by Mrs Oudéa-Castéra, whom the government has turned to: job seekers and students, to whom it is proposed to obtain a simplified event security title created for the occasion, and who goes through training in 106 hours (instead of the usual 175 hours).

There are thus 3,000 positions that it is a question of offering to students, for example. According The Parisianthe young people of Ile-de-France also received a message a few days ago informing them of this recruitment.

In 2016, a similar measure, adopted on the occasion of the Euro football organized in France, had been a failure.

From “complementary strengths” to fetch, “we are also looking with the economic partners of the Games”, also explained Ms. Oudéa-Castéra.

“Maximum visibility” on the means that can be mobilized is promised by Paris 2024 “by the first semester”that is to say at the end of the various calls for tenders that have been launched with security companies.

The organizers however did not conceal that “all scenarios are on the table”. Translation: if private security cannot provide enough manpower, as has been anticipated for several months, it may be necessary to call on the army.

“If at the end of the ends of the ends of the ends, a certain number of people are missing, we will see what we can do”, contented himself with answering Mr. Darmain, on January 24, to the centrist senator Laurent Lafon who asked him “when the scenario of the use of the army will be officially announced” to replace a shortage of private security guards.