2024-01-28 13:22:10
We mainly talk about it at the start of the school year, focusing on the shortage of school bus drivers (6,000 positions to be filled last September), but in reality recruitment difficulties also largely affect the urban and interurban transport sector. This is what a study carried out for Keolis shows and that The cross was obtained exclusively.
A subsidiary of SNCF and the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, this operator is present in numerous metropolises in France (Lille, Rennes, Bordeaux, etc.) and abroad (Stockholm, Melbourne, Shanghai, London, etc.). ) is faced with an aging of its age pyramid: 10% of its coach and bus drivers are, in fact, over 61 years old.
The company also faces a “personnel volatility”in a context of “increased competition” from other sectors. In Keolis’ urban subsidiaries, 20% of newly hired drivers leave the company within the first two years, a proportion which rises to 40% in interurban subsidiaries.
These statistics converge with the alarming observation drawn up last September by the Public Transport Union (UTP): the profession is prey to “recruitment pressures 40% higher than the national average, all sectors combined”.
Traffic difficulties
To understand this lack of attractiveness, Keolis, via its Keoscopie observatory, questioned a representative sample of 2,000 people to find out the general public’s representation of the profession of driver. If 42% of respondents judge it ” useful ” and believe that it “does a service to people”a majority (57%) associate it with potential incivility or even a risk of aggression.
This survey makes it possible to identify two other obstacles: participants mention fears linked to traffic difficulties and urban developments “which do not always take into account the specific difficulties linked to driving a bus”.
The image we have of this profession varies greatly depending on whether or not we know someone who practices it: 38% of respondents would like to join the profession if they benefited from training, a percentage which jumps to 59% when we only question those who have a driver in their entourage.
A gross salary of €2,500 at the time of hiring
Another salient point: only 16% believe that this profession is ” well paid “, even though the UTP estimates the average salary upon hiring, full-time, and bonuses, of a bus driver in France at €2,500 gross per month (compared to €1,603 gross for the minimum salary). This perception contrasts, assure the authors of the study, with the testimonies of men and women who leave the profession, who are moving forward ” rarely “ the level of remuneration as a source of their dissatisfaction.
Conducted with a panel of drivers from urban and interurban networks, including those who have resigned, a qualitative study, complementary to the survey, allows us to better understand the feelings of employees. These point in particular to the pace of work and extended, staggered or even unpredictable hours, hardly compatible with the desire – particularly strong since the Covid period – to preserve personal and family life.
More flexibility in planning
To overcome this difficulty, certain Keolis subsidiaries have developed experiments to adjust schedules to the needs of drivers. In Dijon, for example, each driver has an app to indicate, day after day, the desired times.
Alone or in partnership with other operators, Keolis is increasing its communication operations, open days and even street recruitment. The company also opened its first apprentice training center in Bordeaux in 2021. 100 apprentices were trained that year, then 200 in 2022 and 2023.
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