“Building the skills Orange needs for the future”

Why create a Group-wide Skills Event, and why now?
 

Céline Ribière: “This is the first time we’ve organized an event on this scale, adapted to the specific needs of each country and division. The launch of our new 2026–2030 strategic plan, Trust the future, was the ideal opportunity to put skills in the spotlight. The Skills Event is a concrete example of this: skills are essential to improving our performance, encouraging innovation, making Orange more attractive, and strengthening trust with our customers.

We’re going through profound changes, particularly in technology, and the pace is accelerating dramatically. Skills are therefore becoming an increasingly important issue. We need to develop them faster than we have in the past and help employees understand these changes and why continuous learning matters.”

Isaure de Bastard: “That’s what we wanted people to experience during the week. First, understand the major changes linked to our strategic plan and what they mean for skills. Then, draw inspiration from experts, panel discussions, and employee stories. And finally, put it into practice through learning paths, demonstrations, and readily accessible content.”

AI, data, cybersecurity, networks, customer relations… how are these changes reshaping jobs at Orange?
 

I.B.: “Jobs at Orange are changing faster than ever as technology evolves and the geopolitical and environmental landscape shifts, raising new questions around sovereignty. With fiber, 5G, and satellite technologies all evolving, there is more to master and new challenges to address. We need to keep adapting.

AI is already being used in very practical ways. In cybersecurity, it helps engineers analyze certain threats and respond faster. In networks, it can help optimize 5G antennas. In customer relations, it can suggest responses to advisors, saving them time and helping them better meet customers’ needs.

C.R.: “And it’s not only technology roles that are changing. Every part of the business is affected, including HR. We’ve just created a new AI and Transformation of Work department within Group HR. Part of its role is to look at each job in turn: what is changing in the work I do, and what skills will I need as a result?”

What skills are most important today to prepare Orange for the future?
 

C.R.: “Technical skills obviously include AI and data, cybersecurity, and cloud, as well as emerging areas such as satellite and increasingly software-driven networks. This expertise matters because it underpins the trust our customers place in us, particularly as a technology company. So we need to keep our skills up to date.

People skills are becoming just as important. We need to keep learning, stay adaptable, and remain curious and willing to question what we see. Curiosity starts with staying informed and seeking out information. And with AI giving us access to more tools and data, we need to pay even closer attention to ethics, security, compliance, and GDPR.”

I.B.: “Continuous learning was a big part of the Skills Event. Each member of the Executive Committee shared their own ‘learning routine’ and how they keep their knowledge up to date. Aliette Mousnier-Lompré, for example, reads the news every morning to spark new ideas, then explores them further in conversations with customers, teams, or partners. We wanted to use real examples to show how everyone can keep learning and developing their skills every day.”

As jobs continue to change, how does Orange help everyone develop their skills and remain highly employable?
 

C.R.: “Our responsibility is to give employees what they need to think ahead and develop their careers, while giving them as much independence as possible. At Orange, the annual career development conversation with your manager remains an important part of that. MySkills then helps employees create a development plan, assess their skills, and find recommended training or job opportunities. Group training is also available through Orange Learning, which can now be accessed via a mobile app.

We also look first at the talent we already have within Orange. As roles change, upskilling programs help employees build on their existing skills, while reskilling programs help them acquire new ones and move into a different role. Our priority is to find and develop skills internally, while continuing to recruit young talent and bring in the expertise we need in our different countries.

“Developing skills is essential to the performance of the business, but it’s also part of our responsibility as an employer. For employees, continuing to learn and develop helps them stay relevant in their current role and prepare for where their career might take them next.

Orange wants continuous learning to become second nature. What does that look like as a learning organization?
 

C.R.: “Learning today is about much more than attending a training course for a day or two. We learn through experience and on the job, while working on a project or talking to colleagues. We learn by sharing best practices and from things that haven’t worked.

Learning isn’t something that starts and stops. We need to keep adapting, learning, and trying again. Many countries and divisions are also finding ways to give employees regular time to learn. The principle is simple: learning is part of the job.”

I.B.: “Exactly. Developing your skills isn’t just about choosing a course from a training catalog. Feedback and everyday experience are part of it too. That’s the message we wanted people to take away.”

What did you learn from this first Skills Event?
 

I.B.: “One of the biggest lessons was the value of having a common ambition across the Group while allowing countries to make it relevant locally, with content tailored to different roles and markets. Depending on the country, there were AI masterclasses, prompt engineering workshops for customer relations, critical-thinking workshops, specialist cybersecurity training, and serious games. The hands-on AI sessions were particularly popular.”

C.R.: “We deliberately created a Group program that countries and divisions could build on according to their own priorities. The teams that really made it their own saw high levels of participation. If we run the event again, we’ll probably give countries and divisions even more scope to focus on their own priorities.

That participation is particularly encouraging because most of the program was optional. Employees chose to make room in their schedules to learn.”

I.B.: “At some sites, we also set up stands where employees could come and get help using tools such as the mobile learning app and MySkills. People really appreciated having someone there to talk to, and it gave us a chance to hear their feedback directly.”

What Orange’s investment in skills say about it as an employer?
 

C.R.: “The skills of our people are fundamental to the Group’s success. Orange has believed that for a long time, and we’re putting even greater emphasis on it today. We’re investing in our employees for the long term, giving them the tools, content, time, and opportunities to develop throughout their careers.

The Skills Event also puts our values into practice. Being caring means giving people the time and resources to develop. Being responsible means giving employees an active role in shaping their careers. And being bold means encouraging people to experiment, stay curious, and try new approaches. It’s another practical way to turn Trust the future into action.”