"Savoir-faire": priority to recruitment in the Apparel sector

"Savoir pour faire" is more topical than ever.

Supported by CPDE, UIT and OPCO 2i, this unprecedented cross-industry communication initiative is continuing its mission. Aimed at promoting their technical professions, it embraces no less than nine branches, i.e. in addition to Apparel and Sewing, Textiles, Leather, Leather Goods, Footwear, Jewellery-Jewellery, Watchmaking and Tableware.

Good news: its funding by OPCO 2i has been renewed in 2023-24 as part of the second fashion and luxury strategic sector contract (CSF), signed at the end of March.

Launched in 2019, after the first fashion and luxury CSF was signed, the "Savoir pour faire" campaign met a crying need. "There was an urgent need to recruit young and old to the fashion and luxury industry and pass on to them the savoir-faire of employees who were leaving, recalls Agnès Etame-Yescot, coordinator of the "Savoir pour faire"campaign. Combining website and digital communication, the campaign aimed to shed light on technical professions that had no visibility, and explain how to enter them and train for them, whatever your initial career path ".

Since the launch of "Savoir pour faire", 168 videos and podcasts have been produced, including 50 dedicated to the Apparel professions. This is enough to feed four annual online digital campaigns on its website and social networks, which now exceed 26,000 subscribers.

To bring its films to life, push communication and multiply targets, "Savoir pour faire" relies on relays such as the federations of each branch. La Maison du Savoir-Faire et de la Création is contributor and ambassador of the campaign for the Clothing sector.

For its part, the campaign site "has been built incrementally, with new online services added over the years, such as, a job offer space from companies, in conjunction with Pôle Emploi, and a CV library for candidates ", explains Frédérique Gérardin, the CSF Mode et Luxe's general delegate. Last year, "an orientation guide for middle and high school students " of 48 pages was created to enlighten the youngest on a wide choice of technical professions and training paths. "It's the first guide to encompass the entire industry, interactive, with, for example, the option of clicking on a video explaining a particular profession,says Agnès Etame-Yescot.It's been downloaded a lot since its creation ".

Fifth wave

Today, the "Savoir pour faire" campaign must continue its task.

The first campaign (2019-20) focused on professions, the second on professional reconversions, the third on training schools in the territory and finally, the fourth on recruitment.

"The fifth wave, 2023-2024, which started in September, continues to focus on the theme of recruitment, with increased work on raising awareness of the campaign", says Agnès Etame-Yescot. "In order to give it more amplification among young people, who are not big consumers of traditional media, we're going to run actions on Youtube and Tik Tok and increase influencer marketing by using a specialized agency ".

In early 2023, a first project was carried out with influencer Robin Lrdr, ex-financier turned couture designer. He filmed himself in the workshop of Établissements Thierry, specializing in women's ready-to-wear, to show his Instagram followers what goes on behind the scenes. With success: the video has been viewed almost 80,000 times.

Another initiative planned to intensify its distribution: as part of the digital campaign run by Opco 2i, promoting French industry, links are planned to "Savoir pour faire".

Accelerating recruitment

We are currently witnessing an acceleration in recruitment needs in the Clothing sector, linked to a dual phenomenon. Firstly, the growth of the luxury goods industry, and secondly, the ageing of the workforce, with the need to compensate for numerous retirements.

" It's also a question of preserving the image of garment making" Frédérique Gérardin points out, as current events can lead " to confusion for the general public, between ready-to-wear distribution (in difficulty, editor's note) and garment making. Yet the latter is driven by luxury goods, which are doing very well and need skilled labor."

Marc Pradal, "Savoir pour faire" communications project manager and CEO of Kiplay, confirms this trend. "Today's companies are working more and more for luxury, i.e. qualitative products. This requires more specialized expertise and training. Our professions have evolved, their profile has become more technical, with both more digital and more savoir-faire".

Recruitment needs are thus rising sharply. "Those identified at the start of the campaign were of the order of 10,000 people a year for the nine branches of the industry, clares Marc Pradal. But I think they're much higher today, if not close to that amount in Clothing and Couture alone. All companies are looking to hire". And not without difficulties, especially "in certain regions with low unemployment".

No wonder then that business leaders have made recruitment a priority to meet demand.

To achieve this, says Marc Pradal, we need to "improve the human quality in the company, by listening to its employees and adapting their working conditions and schedules to their family situations". But it's also about improving "its external image", which Apparel "has already started to do, for example by communicating on its CSR efforts ".

Although its task is far from over, the campaign is bearing fruit. The proof, according to Agnès Etame-Yescot: "in 2022, OPCO 2i counted 8,700 trainees and apprentices in 812 Couture/Clothing companies" (source: OPCO 2I 2022 activity report).

Sure to inspire new vocations!

To find out more and post your job offers: www.savoirpourfaire.fr