Professionalization is a key pillar for attractiveness

The Personal Services and Home Employment Fair is an annual event that allows attendees to explore careers in the sector, participate in workshops, and showcase their skills through meetings at informational stands, as well as through conference programming. As a national professionalization platform mandated by the sector of private employers and home employment, we are recognized and identified as a key player. Baptiste Lenfant, General Delegate of the Groupe Domicile & Compétences, of which IPERIA is a part, was invited to participate in the roundtable discussion 'Can we do without the 300,000 jobs to be created in personal services?'

This roundtable also brought together Annie Vidal, Member of Parliament for the 2nd constituency of Seine-Maritime, Cyril Chabannier, representing the CFTC union, Guillaume Richard, Founder and President of the OUI CARE group, and Mathieu Souquière, consultant and essayist, member of the Jean-Jaurès Foundation. The discussions initially focused on what Annie Vidal described as a "major problem of attractiveness," emphasizing a demand that remains unsatisfied due to a lack of professionals. This was nuanced by Guillaume Richard, who believes these jobs are "attractive because they are highly meaningful." He stressed the need to "support (future employees) through training, removing barriers for those who want to join." According to the President of OUI CARE, there are three obstacles to this dynamic: mobility, language barriers, and skills.

It was on the last point that Baptiste Lenfant shared IPERIA's expertise, emphasizing that "training is essential," and reminded the audience that "this is not a new issue for us, as we have been supporting and making the invisible visible for 30 years. 30 years represents one million supported career paths." The General Delegate of the Groupe Domicile & Compétences continued: "For these individuals, the first recognition is personal. Most of them do not have a diploma, or sometimes they come from other countries, and their diplomas are not recognized. When they obtain a certification in France, on a personal level, it changes their perception of their job. The second issue is, of course, professional, since a certification is a recognition of skills. Finally, the third element is social recognition, the recognition from society that these jobs require skills, that they are, in other words, real jobs."

Guillaume Richard echoed the need for professionalization, stating that in personal assistance, "Knowing how to behave is not enough to help, and know-how is necessary," with technical knowledge being indispensable. For Mathieu Souquière, "Training and empathy are needed." Annie Vidal, for her part, emphasized that "Natural caregivers cannot replace professionals. They form a whole, and they should not be pitted against each other."

The future was central to the discussions, particularly regarding issues of flexibility and evolution. Cyril Chabannier highlighted the "significant progress related to artificial intelligence" that personal assistance will experience. These advancements will save time on certain tasks, "provided they are properly regulated, with standards and rules in place."

Regarding the evolution of society and the need for homecare jobs to adapt, Baptiste Lenfant focused on the support of private employers by their employees in using tablets and smartphones, with a dual objective: "The issue of acquiring skills but also transmitting those skills to the person being assisted, the trust bond between the life assistant, for example, which is the targeted profession, and the person being assisted. This helps overcome some barriers for those who are not very comfortable with new technologies, and helps recreate social connections with a number of people in their social circle."