Legrand, the global specialist in electrical and digital building infrastructures, is once again supporting the WorldSkills France competition, in the "Electrical Installations" category. As a long-standing partner of this national event, Legrand is committed to promoting its industry and the associated training programs.
 

For this 45th edition, 14 young people under the age of 23, chosen from all over France, will take part in the WorldSkills France Grand Final in Caen from 28 November to 1 December, in the "Electrical Installations" category, on a challenge using Legrand equipment. The winner of the national competition will move on to participate in the WorldSkills Competition in Russia, a worldwide event to be held in August 2019. This competition creates vocations. At the age of just 21, Vincent Deriaud from the Centre Val de Loire region, overall winner of the 2017 French final in the "Electrical Installations" category, took charge of his family's electrical installation business.

As David Descamps, Legrand VP France, explains: "Legrand is energising the electrical industry by supporting vocational training and the transformation of trades, in particular by contributing to the evolution of the profession towards the Internet of Things. The WorldSkills competition is a wonderful showcase for the industry. By supporting it, Legrand, a major player in the electrical and digital building infrastructure sector, is promoting the emergence of skills and encouraging new vocations in France. These youngsters, who are tomorrow’s electrical installers, are precious talents for the future! "

For the three-day final, Legrand created 14 special workstations that will be provided to the young competitors to carry out the electrical installation challenge. These workstations incorporate the latest innovations in the electrical industry, particularly those related to connected buildings. After the event, they will be given to the institutions of the various participants. Since the launch of the Eliot IoT program in 2015, Legrand has been accelerating the development of its connected offer day after day, and raising awareness of this evolution amongst all stakeholders in the electrical industry, particularly electrical installers.

Legrand supports the industry, from young people to already active installers, by training them in the eight Legrand Innoval training centres throughout France. Since the opening of the historic Innoval centre of expertise in Limoges in 1999, Legrand has introduced many new vocational training courses in the residential and commercial fields. Their common objective is to pass on relevant technical knowledge in order to ensure constant upgrading to keep up with the technical developments in the market. In 2017, Legrand trained more than 3,000 people working in its industry in France, including electrical installers and distributors. Legrand will further have the pleasure of welcoming electrical installer customers to its stand at WorldSkills, where it will also host the Icam Nantes production school. This school enables young people who have dropped out of school to prepare a first-level diploma in electricity, and will be organising an event for the occasion.

Finally, still with a view to encouraging and promoting the expression of innovative ideas among young people, Legrand has signed a partnership agreement with the Compagnons du Devoir training association—a first among electrical equipment manufacturers—in order to:
- offer the best training conditions to learners;
- raise awareness among young people about innovation in the field of smart buildings and train instructors;
- provide the Compagnons du Devoir's technical platforms with equipment at its Bordeaux, Lille, Tours and Troyes facilities;
Legrand will be the 2019 sponsor of the Trophée de la Culture award organised every year by the Compagnons du Devoir.