The Mediterranean Maintenance Show will be held on November 27 and 28, 2025 in Toulon

Once again, Jean-Yves Kbaier, president of the Toulon-based SME Ennovia, reminded us: the maintenance sector is everywhere, it is recruiting, and yet it is invisible.

"We only talk about it when something doesn't work," emphasizes the entrepreneur who, along with numerous partners, is behind the Mediterranean Maintenance Show (2MF), which will be held on November 27 and 28, 2025, at the Palais Neptune in Toulon.

The ambition of this fourth edition is to boost the event – ​​labeled Innova by the French Association of Maintenance Engineers and Managers (Afim). A partnership agreement was signed with this in mind, in the premises of the IUT in La Garde, Friday June 6, between 2MF and the Toulon-Provence-Méditerranée Metropolis, France Travail, Riviera Yachting Network, Aéro Développement Industrie and the University of Toulon.

The ambition? "To lay the foundations of a maintenance ecosystem," emphasized Jean-Yves Kbaier. By building on a sector that is already very active in the region.

"The availability of the French Navy fleet is happening here; there is also something to be done in the field of yachting and, of course, aeronautics. In total, we are talking about a billion euros of local benefits." As Jean-Luc Battista, president of Aéro Développement Industrie, pointed out, "the AIA (Aeronautical Industrial Workshop) in Cuers-Pierrefeu represents 10% of the workforce renewed each year!"

This means there are potential opportunities for the brand new professional aeronautics baccalaureate which will open next year at the Costebelle high school in Hyères.

"We need to highlight the job opportunities in this sector under pressure, where there is less than one candidate for every six vacancies," stressed Angélique Ricordel, director of France Travail in the Var region.

A thousand high school students

The 2MF Show, where various industrial players will have their own stands, has set itself the goal of welcoming a thousand high school students.

During the two days, round tables will also take place to explore the major challenges of maintenance.

The program includes an analysis of the major technical shutdown of the aircraft carrier Charles-de-Gaulle, the maintenance of combat aircraft in operational condition presented by the Air Force, and the maintenance of mega-yachts, a rapidly expanding activity, as Laurent Falaize, president of Riviera Yachting Network, stated .

"We are a State operator serving the territory," added the president of the Xavier Leroux University, who wishes to create a link with SMEs and listen to their training needs, with a target of a thousand work-study students by the end of his mandate.

"Mapiem, which is part of the University's laboratories, is working on an antifouling paint that meets the needs of the French Navy, particularly the Charles-de-Gaulle," quoted the academic, who is counting on the business world to support his requests for teacher-researchers from the ministry.

There is a shortage of 45,000 workers in the maintenance sector in France every year. A good argument.