The Grand Paris Express project is not merely a technical challenge. By virtue of its size and location, other challenges include putting teams of specialists together in a very short space of time and coordinating employee recruitment, training, integration and mobility.
Building teams that best fit project needs
The first step is working out how many people need to be hired in order to put together efficient teams within a short time frame. VINCI has therefore hired one million people (200 supervisors and 800 workers) to work on 8 km of track between the stations Fort d’Issy Vanves-Clamart and Villejuif–Louis Aragon as part of the T3C works package of the future Line 15 South of the Grand Paris Express.
The recruitment drive for Grand Paris Express worksites has also seen VINCI subsidiaries step up their apprenticeship schemes. For instance, VINCI Energies relaunched an apprenticeship scheme in the Greater Paris area.
Seven to ten percent of VINCI workers on these worksites are employed through professional integration schemes – a figure that surpasses the 5% quota set by Société du Grand Paris. Launched in 2011, VINCI insertion Emploi (ViE) is a Group entity responsible for helping the Group’s subsidiaries and partners implement their integration policies, while promoting long-term employment. ViE forges connections between the world of work and the social and solidarity economy.
Executive Director of VINCI Insertion Emploi (ViE )
ViE maintains regular contact with public authorities, regional authorities and private operators. This vast network ensures project needs are closely met. Unparalleled in France, this model has seen employees on VINCI integration programmes in France work 3 million hours, which corresponds to 1,500 full-time equivalent employees.
15,000
people will be working directly on Grand Paris Express worksites
Promoting internal training
VINCI firmly believes that training employees and putting down local roots is crucial for project success. New employees therefore receive specific training.
The Césame internal training centre in the Greater Paris area offers courses such as La ville sous la ville, in situ (“The City under the City, in situ”), which focuses on geotechnical methods applied to underground work. Other courses are organised for specific occupations, such as:
- • TBM operators,
- • timbermen,
- • miners ,
- • topographers,
- • etc…
- enhancing VINCI’s agility, responsiveness and advanced expertise.
Fostering mobility
The Grand Paris Express project also supports mobility and encourages young talent from other parts of France and further afield to move to the Greater Paris area. For instance, the training course for TBM operators drew a number of employees who worked in Doha, Cairo and Hong Kong. Experience acquired on similar projects abroad is invaluable for new teams.
