It's a historic first for the ACC Gigafactory of Billy-Berclau: the first two classes of work-study students supported by ACC have begun their training for a vocational baccalaureate in production line management.

This partnership for the benefit of young people's training is the fruit of work carried out over several months by various departments at the Gigafactory (production, human resources, training, etc.) and the French Ministry of Education, via the Continuing Education and Professional Integration Public Interest Group (Groupement d'intérêt public Formation continue et insertion professionnelle).

The opportunity to make an active contribution to training young people in electric mobility quickly became obvious. The ACC project was presented to the French Ministry of Education and to candidates who were quickly identified. After interviews, the most motivated of them joined two classes of work-study students. All in all, eighteen young people embarked on a course lasting just under a year.

Training time is divided between weeks at the training centre, weeks at the Gigafactory and five weeks at the AFPI. The first two classes, which are designed to be small enough to allow close monitoring, are based at the Béhal secondary school in Lens and the Voltaire secondary school in Wingles, close to the Gigafactory in Billy-Berclau.

What's special about this course is that the work-study students have signed permanent contracts and are therefore fully-fledged employees.  They will join the Gigafactory workforce on a permanent basis once they have obtained their diploma.

Monday was ‘back to school’ day, so it was time to welcome the work-study students to the two establishments, and to go through the final administrative stages, supervised by Achraf Jawahir, HR administrative assistant at the Gigafactory, and Laurent Dagneau, from the GIP FCIP: handing out various invitations, reviewing the year's timetable, handing out apprenticeship booklets and... a t-shirt and sweatshirt in the ACC colours, to foster a sense of belonging to an extraordinary collective adventure.

'We've been looking forward to this day,’ says Stéphane Parent, from the Gigafactory's training department, pointing out that ACC invests massively in training its employees: ’20,000 hours of training have been deployed. We're going to attach a lot of importance to your training.’

The training team also spoke of the values promoted by ACC, and the requirements expected: mutual respect, diligence, safety. ‘We're pioneers, we're launching a new project, we're all in this together. We need you to be proactive, curious and a source of fresh ideas,’ Stéphane Parent explains.

Lukas, 20, is part of the adventure. He graduated from Liévin with a baccalauréat in science and technology for industry and sustainable development in 2022. ‘I went to engineering school for an integrated preparatory course, and then went on to do a bachelor's degree in cybersecurity in Paris. I saw an opportunity here. It's a new factory that's just arrived, and this opportunity doesn't come along every day.’

Gaël, 20, obtained a BTS in technical solutions marketing at Lycée Béhal in Lens. He too seized the opportunity, and is relying on ‘the career development that's possible within ACC. We all have something to bring to ACC’. His apprehensions were quickly swept aside: ‘The welcome we received and the dialogue that was established reassured us.’

For Andrew, it's a complete change of direction. Initially enrolled in an electrical engineering course, he switched to... catering. Back to basics, from now on, with the aim of learning, progressing, obtaining a diploma and working in ‘an innovative profession that can last over time’.

Toni, 21, has been doing one temporary job after another in the car industry since he passed his baccalaureate. ‘I've tried out as many different things as I could, and I wanted to find something that I really liked and to develop. I can't wait for it to start'.

Perrine, 22, wanted to go into industry after a few years in IT and web development: ‘This is the first Gigafactory in France, the company is expanding rapidly, there's a work-linked training scheme and a permanent contract.... I can't just sit behind a desk’.

These motivated young people will have plenty of time to express their abilities throughout their training, which will be both demanding and exciting: ‘We're not going to mother you, we're going to help you grow professionally. You learn every day and at every age. It really is an adventure,’ emphasises Fanny Cinus, the Gigafactory's training manager. 'Take everything you can from this experience. Exchange ideas, use all the tools at your disposal, the school, the trainers, etc.’

The first steps into the Gigafactory will come very quickly for these two classes: on 23 September for the class from Lycée Béhal in Lens, and on 30 September for the class from Lycée Voltaire in Wingles.