Located north-west of the Cotentin tip, the La Hague (English:Manche) reprocessing plant, owned by the Orano group, covers nearly 300 hectares. The ultra-secure nuclear waste storage and recycling site, surrounded by barbed wire and with a stunning view of the sea, must be further expanded to accommodate the increase in activity expected in the coming years. On sunny days, the dome of the future Flamanville EPR reactor, built about twenty kilometres away on the other side of the Vauville Creek, can be seen from above. A landscape that is the only testimony to the industrial footprint of this Normandy territory.
A study commissioned by the Cotentin urban community, which brings together 129 municipalities including Cherbourg, La Hague and Valognes, from economist Laurent Davezies indicates that the local industrial basin is more dynamic in job creation than other metropolises often cited as examples, such as Toulouse or Nantes. According to the study, industry represents almost a quarter of the 54,000 salaried jobs in the Cotentin, compared with 14% for the whole of mainland France, with an increase in creation of 30% between 2016 and 2022, well ahead of the 8% and 11% of the “pink city” and the capital of the Loire-Atlantique.
A vitality that depends largely on the nuclear and naval defence sectors, which are very active in the department. In addition to Orano, the largest employer in the northern Cotentin with around 6,000 employees, there are numerous industrialists present, such as Naval Group, Constructions Mécaniques de Normandie (CMN), EDF, etc. “For about ten years, Cotentin has focused its efforts on its main strengths, which are nuclear, maritime and energy”explains David Margueritte, the president (Les Républicains, LR) of the urban community, acknowledging that “The territory still has difficulties in making its assets known, compared, for example, with [ses] Breton neighbours ».
Talent shortage
Manpower needs are significant and strains are expected in the coming years in highly skilled professions. The slow demographics of the department require recruitment away from the employment area. “We are in a peninsular ecosystem without a large metropolis where wealth can be concentrated. Attracting talent is a real challenge”explains Marianne Guillier, Head of Recruitment and Attractiveness at Naval Group.
To address the talent shortage, manufacturers have set up a welding school of excellence in Cherbourg with local public authorities to train elite welders for the nuclear and naval sectors. “We recruit locally, nationally and even internationally”“This is a very important step forward,” says Serge Quaranta, director general of CMN, as he walks through the hangars in Cherbourg, where a military corvette ordered by the United Arab Emirates Navy is currently being built, and the Tara Ocean Foundation’s Tara polar science station, which is preparing to join the Arctic to conduct studies on climate change.
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