The French International Internship Program: a contract that attracts more than ever young French!

In 2015, 8,665 young French people were involved in a French International Internship Program (V.I.E.) worldwide. This contract, unique in the world, allows young French under 28 years to work abroad on behalf of French companies. It is more and more chosen by young French who want to get an experience in a foreign country: the number of volunteers increased 20% in the past three years!

Business France, the National Agency for Export Development and Investment in France, and umbrella V.I.E., has partnered with Les Echos newspaper to publish, in July 2015, the first “barometer about V.I.E.”.

Key figures from the survey:

Who are these young French volunteers?

➢ 63% are boys and 37% girls, ➢ They are aged of 26 on average, ➢ 91% of them have at least a Master degree level.

In which countries are they going to? 49% choose to stay in Europe, 17% go to Asia-Pacific, 15% to North America, 7% to Sub-Saharan Africa and Indian Ocean, 6% to North Africa and Middle East, 5 % to Latin America and the Caribbean, 1% to South Asia.

Top 10 of destinations for V.I.E. in 2015

1 – USA: 994 contracts V.I.E. 2 – Belgium: 957 3 – Germany: 883 4 – United Kingdom: 739 5 – Hong Kong: 603 6 – Canada: 325 7 – Singapore: 257 8 – Luxembourg: 209 9 – Italy: 205 10 – Spain: 201

Who are their employers?

➢ 57% of the volunteers are doing their V.I.E. in a French company making at least € 200m of turnover, ➢ 12% in a French company making 50 to € 200M of turnover, ➢ 31% in a French company making less than 50M € of turnover.

What are the most represented sectors?

1 – Finance and insurance: 1346 contracts V.I.E. 2 – Information technology and telecommunications: 1198 3 – Automotive: 850 4 – Transportation and Logistics: 817 5 – Services, Training, Education, Human Resources: 691 6 – Food industry: 611 7 – Energy: 610 8 – Health: 580 9 – Construction, Construction, Infrastructure: 443 10 – Industrial Equipment: 375

For which type of missions, are these volunteers hired?

TOP 10 of missions for V.I.E. in 2015 1 – Finance: 1394 contracts V.I.E. 2 – Technical Engineer: 1108 3 – Business development: 964 4 – Project management: 732 5 – Marketing: 712 6 – Computer science: 487 7 – Accounting: 320 8 – Logistics: 296 9 – Technical Sales: 292 10 – Others: 997

Source: Business France