It’s time for the second edition of the LH Port Days, launched last year by the Maritime and Port Union to encourage people from Le Havre and Normandy to pursue careers in the maritime and logistics sectors. The 2024 event will take place from 22 to 24 February at the Carré des Docks, with over 60 exhibitors.

The maritime, port and logistics sectors in Le Havre account for 32,000 direct jobs, including 16,500 in the port and the same number in industry. From right: Karine Leroux, Patrick Lecerf, Yves Lefevre, Elodie Prunier-Taveirne and Florent Saint-Martin. Photos: PN and archives
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In Le Havre and the neighbouring municipalities, one in three jobs is linked – directly or indirectly – to the port. It is the economic lifeblood of the city, its original raison d’être.

However, many people in Le Havre and Normandy know little, if anything, about these maritime, port and logistics professions.

‘Recruiting and looking to the future’

“There are more than forty of them,” points out Patrick Lecerf. “From shipping to freight forwarding, from customs declarants to cargo-handling operators with high-value-added support roles, our sector is recruiting and must look to the future,” adds the former chair of the training committee at the Maritime and Port Union (Umep), now honorary chair of the LH Port Days. He organises the event alongside Karine Leroux, HR Director at Seafrigo, who succeeded him as head of Umep’s training committee.

In less than a year – since the first edition – the situation has changed in the labour market for the maritime and port sectors. “The pressure for staff, from CAP-level workers to post-Covid engineers, is slightly less intense. Nevertheless, the demand remains considerable, and not just in Le Havre,” continues Patrick Lecerf.

“Jobs that don’t even exist yet”

“Whilst preparing this second edition with the regional authorities [one of the main partners of the LH Port Days alongside Haropa and France Travail, Ed.], we have observed that other employment areas in Normandy also have significant needs and face similar challenges: Rouen, Dieppe, Caen and Cherbourg,” he reports, calling for “efforts to attract new talent beyond the borders of Le Havre”.

When asked how many jobs are to be filled in the sector in Le Havre and Normandy, Karine Leroux does not immediately quote a figure. “This isn’t the sort of trade fair where I have 30, 50 or 100 vacancies to fill, but a place for networking, discussion and looking ahead to what maritime transport and its entire supply chain will look like at the forefront of innovation and the energy transition. Many jobs don’t even exist yet, and what’s more, neither does the training for those who will do them,” argues the HR Director of the Seafrigo Group.

The LH Port Days aim to establish themselves firmly within the regional and national employment and training landscape, centred on the port and logistics sectors. “We have the expertise. It’s up to us to make that known and to be at the forefront of innovation, which is at the heart of this second edition. And the task of the green transition in our professions is a huge one. It will create many jobs,” says Karine Leroux.

Last year, the first edition of LH Port Days attracted more than 5,000 visitors, the majority of whom were secondary school pupils and students seeking career guidance. Cleverly scheduled on the eve of the winter school holidays, just over a month before the deadline for applications on Parcours Sup, the second edition should easily double that figure.

Further information and the programme are available on the website: lhportdays.fr

Source: Paris Normandie 13 February 2024