Despite a major need for young engineers, their percentage is still low: only 26.2% of French engineers are under the age of 30
Young engineers come from diverse social and academic backgrounds
Promoting this diversity, Orange offers them employment then development opportunities.

Each year, some 30,000 students graduate as engineers in France, but according to Eurostat, the proportion of young science and technology graduates has been trending down over the past four years in Europe.
The "Repérages 09" landmark review was conducted by Global Contact for Orange, providing detailed and specific information on the situation and role of young engineers in France. This research draws exclusively on data from the 2009 annual survey for engineers and scientists in France (CNISF), as well as an analysis of the main reports published recently on young graduates by the French executive employment agency (APEC) and the Conférence des Grandes Ecoles association for business and engineering schools.

contrary to general belief, young engineers come from diverse backgrounds
Almost half of the engineers under 30 years old come from families in which neither the mother nor the father are executives. We can also see that a growing percentage of young people have not attended preparatory classes before starting at engineering school. In this way, 50% of engineers under 30 (+3% in relation to all engineers) follow different pathways to access the schools. On top of that, the actual conditions for qualifying as engineers are becoming increasingly diverse, with a higher percentage of degrees achieved under apprenticeship programs (2% for all engineers, 6% for engineers under the age of 30).

despite a less favorable year in 2009, an engineering degree still represents a valuable asset on the employment market
Engineers under the age of 30 represented 59% of recruitments in France over 2008, with half concerning first jobs after training. Due to the crisis, job market trends are less favorable for young engineers. Nevertheless, such qualifications are holding up well despite the general environment. Engineering students plan ahead most frequently and most effectively in terms of looking for employment before graduating. In four years, the proportion of students who have found jobs before graduating has climbed from 42% to 56%.
The top five sectors in terms of recruitment, accounting for 50% of the jobs created, are:
IT service providers,
engineering firms,
energy,
transport equipment sector
public works and civil engineering.
The APEC survey on the integration of young graduates reveals that the sector for information and communication technologies and services has the best rates of employment. The majority of young graduates (87%) are recruited to work on research, information systems and production.

young engineers quickly take on responsibilities in businesses
The three leading sectors in which engineers under the age of 30 work are IT services, engineering and energy, which account for 35% of the total headcount. More than nine out of 10 engineers have executive status and stable contracts. They are primarily present in technical functions (production, design and research). Responsibilities are limited when they start out, but increase quickly.
The mobility of young engineers (within the country and abroad) is significantly higher than for all engineers, concerning 43% of the total, with 18.6% posted abroad.
The average salary is around 33,440 euros when starting off in their careers and 38,000 euros for the under 30s. The top three industries in terms of pay levels for the under 30s are banking (43,000 euros), telecommunications (40,000 euros) and energy (39,700 euros). These sectors are also included in the top 10 concerning pay for all engineers.

many opportunities to start out and develop with Orange
Orange, in line with its core business as an integrated operator, regularly recruits engineers. In this way, the Group offers numerous opportunities for young engineering school graduates, as well as more experienced profiles.
Orange recruits service platform engineers for information systems, combining expertise in ICTs and network skills, as well as developer engineers. In terms of network-related professions, the Group is also looking for network architects with expertise on network standards and equipment, network and information system security tools and methods.
In 2010, the Group plans to recruit 300 to 350 young engineers (upon graduation or with some experience) in innovation, networks and information systems.
Each year, Orange welcomes 450 young engineers on work-based training programs and 150 on internships.
Whatever the field, Orange's engineers are at the heart of our customers' use-related issues and the Group offers them opportunities for development in technical and commercial areas, as well as transversal or hierarchical management.
Orange is particularly committed to distributing information and promoting scientific and technical programs and the corresponding professions among girls. More specifically, the Shadowing system enables girls from high school to shadow one of the Group's female engineers for one day, discovering the concrete reality of what their activities involve. The aim is to encourage more young women to become engineers. This initiative is being rolled out at many of the Group's sites around the world.
Lastly, Orange is committed to recruiting a percentage of women that is at least equivalent to the feminization rate among engineering graduates.
All the offers are posted on Orange.com/joinus in the "job board" section.


find out more
download the "Repérages 09" landmark review on www.orange.com/reperages09 (in French)