in Ile-de-France, 6,200 people hired by the private security sector and 6,700 in training

” In time. » The plan put in place by the State to help the private security sector reduce its manpower deficit in the run-up to the Olympic and Paralympic Games is proceeding in line with established objectives, according to the prefecture of the Ile-de-France region. de-France – where a good part of the competition venues will be concentrated.

“We need to train and hire 15,000 people from private security companies. To date, we have managed to hire 6,200 people and 6,700 are in training, who will, perhaps not 100%, switch from training to employment”detailed the regional prefect, Marc Guillaume, Thursday, September 7, during a meeting with the press.

Securing the Olympic sites, which is the responsibility of the Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Cojop), should mobilize 17,000 private security agents per day on average at the national level and 22,000 at the height of the event, during the summer 2024. However, the sector, which was already faced with a lack of manpower even before the needs expressed for the Games, is not able to provide as many personnel.

The figures provided by Mr Guillaume only concern the “target” of job seekers, who constitute the “main pool” with which the public authorities have chosen to work. A “canving” plan was thus launched in September 2022 in consultation with the Pôle emploi agencies in Ile-de-France. He drove to call “84,000 people”where the initial objective was to contact 60,000, underlines Mr. Guillaume.

46 million euros for training

To support this plan, 46 million euros have been released by the State, including 31 million in 2023 alone. “to buy 20,000 courses” relating to the security professions.

Two levels of training are offered: over five weeks for those who plan to make it their permanent job; over three weeks for those who only consider it during the Games, the government, to facilitate recruitment, having set up in the fall of 2022 a temporary event security guard card , issued after a 105-hour training course, compared to 175 hours for the “clic” card.

This “lighter” training is offered in particular to students who, together with young people supported under the Regional Youth Integration Plan (PRIJ) and young people from second-chance establishments, constitute “the other breeding ground on which we must continue to workexplains Mr. Guillaume. There, it takes 2,000 to 3,000 people..

On the student side, “1,000 have already entered training”continues the prefect, who considers that“we have to restart at the start of the school year” the canving campaign, with “perhaps the need to adapt to their schedule, with three weeks of distance learning for example”.

The use of the army? “We are not there yet”

Another public could be canved in the coming weeks: that of the 300,000 candidates to be “volunteers” during the Games. “Not all of them will be selected by the Organizing Committee”underlines Mr. Guillaume, who considers that a certain number could be “ interested in training and participating in the Olympic event in this way”.

Be that as it may, the regional prefect considers that “The state is rolling out its plan for next summer”. And, if he confirms that the recourse to the army, to fill the lack of private security agents which could appear finally, “ is not taboo”he adds : “We are not there yet. »

In a report on the preparation of the Games submitted to Parliament in mid-Julythe Court of Auditors considered that, despite “the large-scale action plan put in place by the State” to promote recruitment, the government and the Cojop must “anticipate the likely use of internal security forces and armies to make up for this deficit”.

The financial magistrates insisted on the need to take decisions on this subject “no later than October”. “You have to move quickly, not procrastinate”urged the first president of the institution, Pierre Moscovici. “This is one of the things that we can speed up at the start of the school year”, said, for her part, at the end of July, the Minister of Sports and JOP, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra.