Operation "Open Factories", to "create vocations"

"For this first edition, more than 200 factories across France" are opening their doors: after school on Friday, the general public is expected on Saturday, to "discover the diversity and richness of the French industrial fabric," according to the organizers, who expect some 20.000 people for this first edition.

"What we hope is to create vocations, we want to restore the image of the industry and our aim is to show the reality of today's industry, to erase the stereotypes that can be conveyed," Aurélien Herbert, project manager of the operation for the Arts et Métiers engineering society, told AFP.

To facilitate the arrival of middle school, high school and university students, the organizers funded bus transport for the first edition of this initiative inspired by Heritage Days.

On Friday, Industry Minister Marc Ferracci accompanied a 3rd-year pre-vocational class from a Val d'Oise secondary school to the Bernard Controls factory in Gonesse, where electric actuators are manufactured to control industrial valves.

The list of sites open to the public is extremely varied, from mattress recycling to vertical farming, including steelmaking and energy.

Despite the uncertainties caused by the trade war waged by the United States and the difficulties encountered by certain sectors, such as the steel and automotive industries, which have been affected by job cuts in recent months, the industry remains in high demand for workers: around 76.000 positions are "currently unfilled, half of which are in the metallurgy industry alone," according to France Travail.