2013-vinci-annual-report

3. Social information
3.1 Regional, economic and workforce-related impacts of VINCI’s activities
3.1.1 Contribution to regional economic development
Founded and built on a network of companies with long-established roots in their operating regions – nearly 70% of Group companies still
have fewer than 100 employees – VINCI is currently present in more than 100 countries.
REPORT OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS 177
Size of Group companies by number of employees at 31 December 2013
2013
From 1 to 99 employees 69.4%
From 100 to 499 employees 25.2%
More than 500 employees 5.4%
Total 100.0%
3.1.1.1 Impact of local companies
VINCI companies design, finance, build and operate bridges, tunnels, roads and other infrastructure on a long-term basis. This role makes
them leading players in regional development, whether in rural or urban areas. As the Group’s activities cannot be relocated, VINCI companies
give shape to the space where these activities are pursued, endowing it with greater coherence and fostering both economic and social
development. Owing to VINCI’s decentralised management model and their strong local roots, Group companies generate significant economic
benefits, playing an important part in the life of surrounding communities, as much through construction as through concession
activities, whether in the form of revenue, subcontracting, the development of ancillary activities, local tax contributions, support for local
non-profit organisations or efforts to boost the attractiveness of the regions where they operate.
3.1.1.2 Impact of activities on economic development
Apart from economic contributions in the form of locally generated revenue and tax payments by companies at local level, the Group’s
activities themselves contribute to the economic development of new areas or the modernisation of existing facilities. In response to the
growing demand from customers to take into account the positive and negative impacts of our activities, especially in relation to the environment,
VINCI companies are constantly working to provide innovative solutions, especially in the areas of energy performance, econeighbourhoods
and sustainable city concepts (see page 33 of the Annual Report on R&D and innovation).
In 2013, VINCI generated €14.8 billion in revenue with public sector, or quasi-public sector, customers.
3.1.2 Contribution to employment, local skills development and professional integration
All employment relating to the activities of Group companies, including both direct jobs and indirect jobs (temporary employment and
subcontracting), together with initiatives to encourage the professional integration of the long-term unemployed, helps to support regional
development.
3.1.2.1 Employment and local skills development
As they are highly labour intensive, VINCI’s Contracting activities (the Energy, Construction and Roads business lines) have a substantial
direct and indirect impact on regional employment. For employment at its worksites, the Group encourages the use of local resources.
Internationally, and particularly in emerging economies, VINCI works to promote the development of local skills for both production and
managerial staff.
For example, as part of its long-term commitment to the professional development of African managers, Sogea-Satom uses local resources
whenever possible for staffing its worksites. Several educational programmes are supported at engineering schools: the Ecole Polytechnique
de Dakar in Senegal, the Institut Supérieur de Technologie d’Afrique Centrale (ISTAC) in Cameroon and the Institut International d’Ingénierie
de l’Eau et de l’Environnement (2IE) in Burkina Faso. In 2013, Africans accounted for more than half of Sogea-Satom’s managers.
For its Papua New Guinea pipeline project, Spiecapag, an Entrepose Contracting company (VINCI Construction), has hired 4,840 people since
work began in 2010, 75% of whom are from the local area. Tailored training programmes have been put in place, accounting for 156,600
hours of training, with local trainees representing 82% of session participants.
In 2013, the South Europe Atlantic high-speed rail line (SEA HSL) between Tours and Bordeaux, Europe’s largest rail project, cemented its
status as a major French success story for the use of local resources and local skills development. The construction joint venture COSEA has
entered into a partnership with stakeholders in the Poitou Charentes region, the French state, regional authorities, state-run job centres,
chambers of commerce and trade associations. Signed in 2012, the project’s Employment Charter formally enshrines its pledges to promote
local employment and sustainable employability, secure career paths and the reinforcement of local know-how. In the summer of 2013,
during the most labour-intensive period of the project’s initial phase, approximately 8,000 people were employed, about 1,500 of whom had
previously been excluded from the labour market and were among those targeted by professional integration measures. By end March 2014,
the project will have accumulated nearly 2 million hours of integration employment.