Discover the faces of WorldSkills Lyon 2024: Agnès MOSHFEGHI and Philippe PIATON 

In this new joint portrait, we’d like to introduce you to two Sector Managers* in charge of Manufacturing and Engineering Technology, the biggest skills sector of WorldSkills Lyon 2024: Agnès Moshfeghi and Philippe Piaton. This complementary (and jovial) duo brings its energy and broad expertise to the preparations of the Competition. For them, “Once you set foot in WorldSkills, you’re hooked.” 

Before becoming a Sector Manager for WorldSkills Lyon 2024, Philippe was no stranger to WorldSkills, having joined the movement back in 2006 as a milling judge at national competitions. He wears many hats and works as a WorldSkills regional referent and as a schools-companies referent for the Rhône region within the Union des industries et métiers de la métallurgie (UIMM), an association of France’s leading metalworking companies.  

It was through the UIMM that Philippe met Agnès Moshfeghi, who holds the position of WorldSkills national coordinator there. Contacted at the beginning of 2023 to join the WorldSkills Lyon 2024 team, Agnès proposed Philippe to help her coordinate the Manufacture and Engineering skills sector, which includes 19 skills.  Both have many years’ experience in the industrial sector, and form an obvious duo to take charge of this skills sector.  

Philippe and Agnès shared their thoughts and ideas with us:   

On industry and vocational training:  

For Agnès, “hands are the continuation of everything you’ve imagined in your brain.” She insists on the varied nature of industrial jobs, which she believes are not just manual, but require significant organizational skills and knowledge of processes. Philippe agrees with her, adding that France invests heavily in industry to promote it. For him, the ecosystem for industry in terms of vocational training is particularly well represented, with varied and comprehensive training courses enabling the acquisition of solid skills in specific trades.  

On women in industry:   

Agnès emphasizes the diversity of industry, a sector with many facets that are often overlooked, offering a variety of professions. Contrary to preconceived ideas, these professions are becoming increasingly feminized, with a growing number of women embarking on training and occupying a variety of positions. “We’ve had female Competitors, jury members, Workshop Managers…In welding, for example, we’ve had female Competitors, and some have even finished on the podium in competitions.”     

On the importance of the WorldSkills movement and skills competitions:   

For Philippe, as for Agnès, the WorldSkills movement and the skills competitions help to promote young people and to highlight skills that are not necessarily known or valued; to “show that young people are capable of being motivated, of doing very beautiful things, that they are capable of being passionate, of showing their know-how and their excellence.” Agnès insists on the added value of taking part in WorldSkills as a Competitor: “Competitors and Champions have the opportunity to put their WorldSkills experience on their resumes, which is a big plus in showing that they have achieved a level of excellence and commitment to a skills. Companies have a support role during the Competition, a role in accompanying young people, a role in passing on knowledge, and a societal role, as these Competitors are their employees of tomorrow.”  

Click here to discover more about the Manufacturing Engineering Technology skills sector. 

* The Workshop Sector Manager is a person with qualifications and experience in one of the skills in the skills sector to which they are appointed. The WSM is responsible for overseeing the Workshop Managers in their industry sector.