“I have a lot of ambition but I don’t always know where to direct it,” admits Elyes Hamida. This 23-year-old from Nice moved to Paris in June 2021. Since moving, he has been looking for his way. A search that led him to Yookan, a new third place dedicated to employment which opened in mid-November at the Westfield Rosny 2 shopping center in Rosny-sous-Bois (Seine-Saint-Denis). “It finally allowed me to make my future a reality,” he rejoices at the end of his visit, now determined to embark on entrepreneurship.
This is precisely the objective of this structure: professional integration. Yookan has already welcomed more than 7,000 Ile-de-France residents in nearly three months. Its success is undoubtedly due to its innovative dimension. The course combines high-tech equipment and entertainment, divided into three distinct spaces called “arena”, “display” and “immersion”.
The first step should help users get to know each other better in order to find their professional path. At their disposal, touch screens and an escape game. Then, simulators and virtual reality headsets allow you to explore different professions. Crane operator, painter, nursing assistant… The choices are many. Classified ads offering immersions in companies, sorts of observation courses, complete the journey.
“Here, we make the link between self-discovery and professional immersion”, explains Philippe, mediator coach for Yookan. If this path to employment can be done independently, advisers are present to guide visitors who wish. They offer personalized appointments of approximately one hour to develop a professional project. They also offer follow-up during company immersions.
Support job seekers in the department
The public concerned is divided into three categories: schoolchildren (third and high school students), who find elements there to better orient themselves in their studies; highly qualified young people, “even overqualified” according to the agents, who cannot find a job; and people seeking professional retraining. “For the young people I accompany, it’s 99% of positive feelings”, welcomes Thibault Le Brun, supervisor of the local mission of Lyr, in Pantin.
The choice to establish this third place in Seine-Saint-Denis is not the result of chance. “Seine-Saint-Denis is a department that is experiencing a very strong economic boom, therefore with a lot of jobs, and yet there are many people who encounter persistent social difficulties”, notes Nacera Torche, general manager of Yookan. .
At the end of December 2021, the department had 186,930 job seekers. According to data from the Ministry of Labor and Pôle Emploi, the unemployment rate in Seine-Saint-Denis fell by 3.97% last year. “It is a territory whose jobs do not benefit its inhabitants”, however regrets Nacera Torche.
The Yookan team wanted to settle in a shopping center. “It is a place of life, meetings, passage, which is served by public transport”, argues the director.
Launched on an experimental basis by Pôle emploi, this project brings together more than 200 partners: local players, associations, social centres, specialized prevention clubs, institutional players, etc. This has enabled it to raise a budget of four million euros to settle for 18 months in Rosny-sous-Bois.
And to take its autonomy by becoming an association “Yookan, revealer of the future”. Its creators aim to further develop this concept, in particular by creating other structures of this kind.
For those who cannot make it to the mall, an Internet site was set up to try the experiment.