Summary : Skill adaptation and development may be insufficient in view of the Group’s transformation, business line requirements and changes in organisational and working methods.
Criticality : ●● Intermediate
In an environment impacted by the energy and digital transitions, the scope of the Group’s activities is changing. New business lines are developing and working methods are changing (empowerment, collective intelligence, operating on project platforms, increased teleworking, etc.).
In this context of change, the risk of a skills mismatch will persist for the years to come, both in terms of managing workforce trends and adapting skills. Failure to control this risk could have an impact on the Group’s business, financial position and reputation as an employer.
Risk management is based on matching skills to short-, medium- and long-term needs, on supporting the employability of employees and on managing internal mobility more fluidly. In this respect, the main control actions concern:
Obtaining experience may require several years and sufficient coverage is required to ensure the transfer and acquisition of knowledge. In 2020, in the framework of the Excell plan in particular, the Group launched a knowledge management system to facilitate and accelerate the development of skills in the nuclear field as well as in all business lines.
Summary : The Group may be required to meet significant commitments related to pensions and other employee benefits.
Criticality : ●● Intermediate
The pension plans applicable in the various countries in which the Group operates involve long-term commitments to pay benefits to the Group’s employees (see note 16 of the appendix to the consolidated financial statements for the fiscal year ended 31 December 2021). In France, in addition to these pension commitments, the Group also owes obligations for post-employment benefits and long-term benefits for employees currently in service. A pension reform in France may have an impact on the Group’s commitments.
The amounts of these commitments, the provisions booked, the outsourced funds or pension funds set up and the additional contributions required to make up insufficient funding are calculated based on certain actuarial assumptions, including a discount rate subject to adjustment depending on market conditions and, with regard to employee-related commitments in France, on the rules governing retirement benefits paid out by the general retirement scheme, and amounts owed by the Group. These assumptions and rules may be adjusted in the future, which could increase the Group’s current commitments for pensions and other employee benefits and, therefore, require a corresponding increase in provisions.
Furthermore, if the value of pension funds in the UK proves insufficient to meet the corresponding commitments, primarily due to calculation assumptions or developments in the financial markets, the Group may be obliged to make additional contributions to the relevant funds, which may have an adverse impact on its financial position.
In order to cover these commitments, the Group has set up pension funds in the United Kingdom, where coverage of commitments is a regulatory obligation, and outsourced funds in France, which provide partial coverage of the commitments. In the United Kingdom, the pension reform in 2021 (from defined benefit to defined contribution) and the merger of the three existing funds (BEGG, EEGS and EEPS) into one fund (EDFG) from 31 December 2021 will limit future risks.
(1) Gestion Prévisionnelle des Emplois et Carrières (job and skill planning).
(2) PAME : parcours accompagné de mobilité externe.
(3) CCE : congé création d’entreprise
