Economics

Macron’s Plan to Get French Youth Onto the Factory Floor

French Fab ambassadors are touring the country to inspire young people to work in industrial jobs.

An emblem of the French Fab Tour on display in Rouen.
Photographer: Ilyes Griyeb for Bloomberg Businessweek

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By William Horobin

July 10, 2019 at 4:01 AM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

This article is part of the July 15, 2019 issue of businessweek.

A 20-foot-tall blue rooster, appearing to crow as it strides forward, chest jutted out and wings folded back, is on a tour de France. The inflatable bird is racing to 60 stages across the country, accompanied by a team of 15 technicians, six trucks, and an Airstream trailer. The mission: to restore pride in the country’s manufacturing industry.

Each daylong stage of the so-called French Fab Tour includes workshops and games for schoolchildren, conferences, aptitude tests, virtual-reality experiences, and speed-dating-style job interviews. President Emmanuel Macron’s government is hoping the campaign will encourage the French back onto the factory floor. “We’re in a sector that is the very opposite of sexy,” says Julien Hue, chief executive officer of industrial oil manufacturer Hafa.