Paris 2024, an accelerator for the social and professional integration of young people

68% of young people find it difficult to find work, according to a survey conducted by OpinionWay for Coca-Cola in April 2023*. However, they are also nearly one in two to judge that companies are involved in the integration of young people into the world of work, according to the same survey. What if the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games were an opportunity to strengthen the link between young people and companies? This is the point of view defended by Marie Barsacq, Executive Director of Impact and Heritage at the Paris 2024 Organising Committee, during a round table organized by Coca-Cola on April 25. "Our mission is to identify the job opportunities offered by the Paris 2024 Games. We have carried out a mapping of jobs related to the event and we are working with integration actors, including Pôle Emploi, to facilitate young people's access to these opportunities," she explains.

Sport, a path to employment

This dynamic driven by the Organising Committee is also driven by partner companies, such as Coca-Cola, a partner of the Games since 1928. "We are convinced that the Paris 2024 Games are a key moment to accelerate major transformations in terms of social impact. For Paris 2024, inclusion is at the heart of our projects. For example, we will intensify our partnership with Sport dans la Ville," said Claire Revenu, General Manager of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games for Coca-Cola. Located in priority neighbourhoods throughout France, Sport dans la Ville is an association for integration through sport in France. "In our 60 centres, we welcome more than 10,000 young people to whom we offer sports activities but also meetings with professionals and company visits," says Bertrand Chédé, Director of the Île-de-France Region for Sport dans la Ville. This is one of the actions implemented with Coca-Cola in France, which opens its doors widely to introduce its professions to young people accompanied by the association. "On the occasion of the Games, we will contribute to the opening of new centres and finance 200 training courses in animation and support," says Claire Revenu.

Fostering inclusion

During the Paris 2024 Games, Coca-Cola in France will also recruit young people for its activities during competitions. "With the aim of giving them self-confidence and opening up the field of possibilities so that they feel more able to project themselves into professional life," says Claire Revenu. The opportunity to develop first professional experiences for some. "Young people often feel that the company is a world far from them. Giving them opportunities to discover it is important to start building a professional future," says Hawa Dramé, president and founder of Time2Start, an association that supports future entrepreneurs to create their own business. To facilitate the meeting, Sport dans la Ville imagines original recruitment schemes. "In the morning, teams mixing recruiters and candidates compete on a football or volleyball field, the afternoon being devoted to interviews. Another way of discovering and revealing oneself that makes exchanges easier," explains Bertrand Chédé, who campaigns for better consideration of behavioural skills, which are revealed in particular on sports fields. Relying on human, relational and emotional qualities to evaluate candidates is also an approach adopted by the Paris 2024 Organizing Committee, which, to recruit work-study students, has organized recruitment sessions without CVs. These are all concrete examples of the search for greater inclusion of young people, promoted on the occasion of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. It is up to all stakeholders to perpetuate them at the end of this great celebration of sport of international scope.

* Survey conducted from April 20 to 25, 2023 with a sample of 1,003 French people aged 18 to 24.