In France, Thales has, for many years, maintained very close links with the national education system.

University Links

Thales uses a network of « Campus Managers » to help develop relationships with Universities. These Campus Managers, who are all Thales employees, are usually alumni of the target universities, who have maintained strong links with their old colleges. They come from all of the Group's Divisions and are responsible for launching a wide variety of initiatives for students and faculties.

Promoting our activities and working with students

In addition to Graduate careers fairs, of which there are over 30 each year, we undertake many other activities, enabling students to discover Thales and our jobs. These include conferences, round table discussions on specific skill areas, or even assuming the role of « Godfather » for a particular degree course. Our role is also to help students prepare to launch themselves on the employment market. With this in mind we regularly organise CV writing workshops or interview role play exercises.

As in the past, this year, Thales will be participating in a large number of student and professional forums. Come see us, one and all: these events are a unique opportunity to talk with operational people ready to share their passion for their profession, responsibilities and career path at Thales.

In France, Thales has developed a highly-active internship policy, opening its doors to 2 000 interns each year.  In order to guarantee the quality of the assignments offered, we make sure that each internship is strictly in line with an instructional plan defined in partnership with the schooling institution, to ensure a successful entry into the professional world.

Apprentceship

Thales is already host to over 700 young people on apprenticeship or professionalisation contracts, and plans to increase that figure to 1 000 each year, starting from 2009.

In today's world, alternating job-study systems, in step with the times and training and qualification needs of young people, offer a variety of degrees, from the CAP (vocational certificate) to Bac+5 (five years of post-Baccalaureate study) level.  Premised on the concept of skills transfer by trainers (in apprentice training centres, or CFAs) and tutors or apprenticeship mentors (in enterprise), it offers young people a clear itinerary for gaining both the theoretical knowledge and hands-on skills required to be proficient in a profession.

In signing the Apprenticeship Charter in 2006, Thales committed to build up its alternating job-study policy in the years to come.  Under this agreement, we support a variety of training and recruitment policies, work with our partner CFAs, train and enhance the skills of our tutors and develop original solutions that stand out for their diversity.

PhDs

In France, most of our doctoral students are jointly-funded by Thales and the ANRT (National Association for Technical Research, which grants the CIFRE fellowships).  This thesis programme allows young doctoral students to enjoy guidance from both Thales and their own academic laboratory, gain solid training and, beyond this, maybe even obtain a position in the Group.

In addition to its strong-willed policy to foster professional and geographic mobility, Thales has founded two original structures to support its employees in their career development aims:

• GERIS, to encourage entrepreneurship.
• Thales Missions & Conseil, to introduce the consulting profession.

GERIS

You wish to embark on a new career path and take up the exciting challenge of entrepreneurship.  Thales has an in-house structure - GERIS - is made up of experienced consultants, to support you in your endeavour.

For over twenty years, Thales has, through GERIS, supported company employees wishing to strike out on their own, creating or taking over an enterprise. The success rate after five years posted by GERIS-assisted companies far exceeds the national average, reaching 80%.  This can be ascribed to three factors:

• Within Thales, the employee can still have enough time to design a plan (by taking entrepreneurial leave or shifting to part-time for nine to twelve months)
• The support provided is individual
• Assistance comes in a variety of forms (funding, training courses, etc.).  

Thales Missions & Conseil

Thales Missions & Conseil (TM&C) was founded in 1999 in order to offer employees career paths that make the most of their professional experience - as consultants to the Group.  To support them in their desire for mobility, we offer this original career path: the participant learns the consulting business and serves as in-house consultant for 18 months, then takes the time to lay out a career plan before ultimately bringing it to fruition.

Every day, Thales in France demonstrates its commitment to increasing diversity and promoting equality in the workplace.  A large number of concrete and significant actions have been carried out.  Here are a few examples:

Disability

Employment for the disabled rings deep and true with the Group's values, and Thales has been committed to this cause for many years now.  

Some of the Group's major agreements: From as early as 1992, Thales made a commitment to professional integration for the disabled when it signed an initial enterprise-wide agreement on employment and disabilities. This was the start of a coordinated policy and series of action plans within our entities in France. This year, the Group signed its 6th Group-Wide Agreement (2008-2011) in order to sustain and step up the policy in effect since 1992, in favour of equal opportunity and professional integration for people with disabilities.

The major thrusts of the policy in favour of integration of the disabled at Thales: Thales helps people toward and in jobs: While the Group's 2008-2011 Agreement calls for supporting career pathways for the disabled, Thales' objective is, first and foremost, to bring applicant profiles in line with the positions offered by the Group.  The actions implemented therefore need to help anticipate job requirements, so as to support the disabled as they work toward a degree and facilitate their qualification.  This entails:

• Meeting with students, as far upstream as possible,
• Supporting disabled people in vocational re-training programmes,
• Facilitating integration in the workplace.Accompagner les publics handicapés en reconversion professionnelle

Thales puts its technology to work for the disabled: The Group offers its technological capabilities up to serve innovative projects designed to facilitate access to knowledge and employment for the disabled.

Some examples of Thales technologies:

• PortaNum, a far-sight viewing assistant.  This tool makes it possible for the visually-impaired to follow courses, a presentation or a conference using a camera directly connected to their laptop computer: the student can move and enlarge the image as needed for more comfortable viewing.
• Handi-Air Surveillance, now recognised by the French National Civil Aviation Authority, makes it possible, through specially-designed technology, for disabled pilots to perform surveillance on forest areas and issue warnings in the event of fire.

Mission Insertion: In existence since 2001, Mission Insertion serves as the entity specifically-dedicated to employment for the disabled.  Operating  under the Human Resources Department, it supports the implementation of the Group agreement. Mission Insertion hosts, trains, informs and advises.  As the contact point of choice with employees, job applicants, schools and associations, its mission is to foster integration and support for the disabled within the host enterprise, in close connection with the establishment's Disabilities Officers, HR associates and medical and social workers. 

So, if you want to learn more about Thales' action with regard to integration for the disabled, feel free to contact Mission Insertion at +331 57 77 84 89 or send an e-mail to mission.insertion@thalesgroup.com .

Gender equality in the workplace

Thales in France is committed to upholding the gender equality principle and promoting equal treatment for women and men.

In France, a framework agreement signed on 13 January 2004 by all of the Group's trade unions, sets out the professional gender equality principles which the Group wishes to guarantee, in particular with regard to compensation, training, promotion, part-time employment and flex-time.  The agreement provides for a variety of action plans, deployed over a three-year period.

Some of the measures taken include:

• Special attention to female applications for management positions
• A specially-appointed budget within payroll to fill unjustified pay gaps between men and women, analysed according to criteria such as proficiency, experience, responsibility, etc.
• A commercial framework agreement signed to enable subsidiaries, when they deem it necessary, to help create inter-enterprise day-care centres or reserve spots therein.
• Promotion for our professions in lower- and upper-secondary schools in order to raise young women's awareness about the interest of scientific and technical careers.