Helping people transition (back) to work
In addition to programs to help young people enter the workforce, Safran is also committed to making it easier for those returning to work.
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Why is the company so committed to helping people return to the workforce?
Mireille Rey: Safran Helicopter Engines has always been keen to attract people from a broad range of backgrounds and share our passion for what we do. We often talk about onboarding young graduates. But don’t forget, people who’ve been working for years can find it hard to secure a new job after an extended period away, for whatever reason. That’s why we’re proactively involved in a range of initiatives to help them return to work. We focus on local actions in partnership with local authorities, nonprofit organizations and business clubs, such CREPI(1) in France.
What actions are you pursuing with CREPI Pyrénées?
M. R.: Safran Helicopter Engines is involved in the annual Femme et Industrie (women in industry) initiative, which introduces women outside the labor market to the world of industry through workshops and guided tours of companies. During a tour of our Bordes facility last June, several female colleagues who had retrained and made a career transition gave talks about their journeys. These testimonials are always much appreciated, as participants identify with them, which helps them imagine themselves doing the same thing. We’re also partnering the Temps de Pauses (breaktimes) program, which aims to build the confidence of female candidates through roundtable discussions on the role of women in the workplace, theater workshops, guided tours of facilities, and informal discussions. Last year, we hosted 10 women aged 26 to 54 of eight different nationalities. Half of them secured a job during or after the program. And we’ll be running it again at the end of the year.
What other initiatives can you tell us about?
M. R.: For several years, Human Resources colleagues at Safran Helicopter Engines have been making their expertise available on a pro bono basis to a nonprofit called La Cravate Solidaire, which supports jobseekers. At Coup de Pouce (helping hand) workshops, they help future candidates prepare for job interviews, with support for resume writing, mock interviews, advice and best practices. They also offer advice on image and appearance. We even have a kind of clothing repository offering suitable interview wear collected from companies, including Safran Helicopter Engines. Another initiative is the internship program for candidates being supported in their efforts to return to the workforce by CRIC(2) centers for the rehabilitation of people with disabilities in France. For example, we recently offered an internship to someone who needed to finalize their learning program through a placement. We’re also thinking about how we can further develop our collaboration. We’ll soon be launching a partnership with the École de la Deuxième Chance (second chance at success) so that our Bordes facility can host young people aged 16 to 29 who’ve dropped out of school with no qualifications. Our goal is to show them what we do as a company and help them build a career plan.
(1) CREPI stands for Clubs Régionaux d’Entreprises Partenaires de l’Insertion, regional networks of business and nonprofit partners that help people who’ve been excluded from the job market to return to work.
(2) CRIC: Centre de Rééducation des Invalides Civils, center for the rehabilitation of people with disabilities.
STEM returners: a chance to bounce back after a career break
In 2022, several Safran companies in the United Kingdom joined forces with the STEM Returners program to recruit engineers with a resume gap. The principle? A 13-week internship with a job offer at the end. “In a tight job market, it’s important to reach out to certain profiles who, although qualified, are finding it hard to secure a job because they’ve taken a break, whether it’s to take maternity leave, look after a relative or retrain,” says Katherine Moss, Senior HR Business Partner at Safran Seats UK. “It’s a great opportunity for them, but also for the company, which is enriched by a wide range of profiles. We’ve already recruited four people in the space of a year.”
A helping hand to get (re)started
How do you find an internship if you just don’t have the connections? To give junior high school students from underprivileged neighborhoods a taste of the world of work, Safran Landing Systems is offering ninth-grade internships at its Villeurbanne facility, near Lyon, supported by the nonprofit organization ViensVoirMonTaf (check out my job). And Safran Power Units is one of two aerospace companies in France to form a rehabilitation-through-work partnership with Muret prison, which houses offenders serving long sentences. The facility has a production workshop employing 14 to 25 operators, depending on workload, supervised by two people from Safran Power Units. The workshop is set up to manufacture 120 to 150 different parts and tools.
Cover photo: Angélique Sauvageon, former hairdresser turned grinder at Safran Helicopter Engines.
