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Once a city of the French arms industry, Saint-Étienne had lost ground in recent decades, with a drop in employment. Arms orders resuming, companies in the sector must now rehire.
Decades of factory closures had silenced the arms industry in Saint-Étienne (Loire). But in recent months, with the war in Ukraine, the century-old workshops of the old “Armeville” are running at full speed. The SME Verney-Carron has been manufacturing rifles for more than 200 years. “Here, production must double every year”, assures Pierre Cauquelin, Director of Security and Defense. A relief for the 80 employees, affected by a safeguard procedure two years ago.
More than 10,000 jobs in the sector
The mayor of Saint-Chamond, not far away, saw the town wither and the job market wither: “We experienced it as a disaster”. The return of the defense industry is a boon. Louisa, 58, now manufactures gas masks and was able to take out a loan to finance her son’s studies. The company that hired her, NBC-Sys, “should experience a 40% increase in turnover. We need another site and hire about ten people”, according to Jean-Marie Mathelin, Deputy CEO. More than 10,000 direct and indirect jobs are linked to armaments in the department.
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