RATP is seeking to recruit thousands of new employees this year ©Getty Images

Paris public transport operator RATP has launched an "unprecedented" recruitment campaign in a bid to hire thousands of staff in preparation for this year's Rugby World Cup and the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

RATP has revealed plans to recruit more than 6,600 new employees this year, with 4,900 of those on permanent contracts.

It hopes to hire 2,700 bus drivers as well as 400 metro drivers, 700 station agents, 400 maintenance workers and 120 security guards.

The campaign has been launched with fewer than 18 months to go before Paris 2024 organisers plan to stage the Olympic Opening Ceremony on the River Seine in front of more than 600,000 spectators.

Paris is also set to host matches at this year’s Rugby World Cup, scheduled to run from September 8 to October 28.

"This unprecedented recruitment campaign is aimed at meeting demands made on the network and preparing for major coming events which are the Rugby World Cup in 2023 and the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2024," a statement from RATP read.

Marie Cosson, director of skills development at RATP, insisted that it was important that the transport network was no understaffed when looking to cope with the demands of staging major sporting events in a report by French television channel France 3.

"We respond to the challenge of being able to anticipate and be ready for two things: the Rugby World Cup in 2023 and the Olympic Games in 2024 since for all of our driving, maintenance and security professions, it takes between six to nine months to train a hired candidate to be operational in his profession," added Cosson.

Former French Prime Minister Jean Castex was appointed as head of the RATP in November last year.

Speaking in January, Castex announced plans to recruit 4,500 new staff this year only to increase the target as it looks to step up its recruitment drive.

Former French Prime Minister Jean Castex. who is head of the RATP, has revised his target on the number of staff needed to cope with the demand of staging next year's Olympics ©Getty Images
Former French Prime Minister Jean Castex. who is head of the RATP, has revised his target on the number of staff needed to cope with the demand of staging next year's Olympics ©Getty Images

Cemil Kaygisiz, general secretary of bus union CGT-RATP Bus, told France 3 that the revised figure was still not sufficient to meet demands.

"We are calling for these recruitments to be made permanent, whether they are contracts under status and not precarious jobs, no fixed-term contracts," said Kaygisiz.

"In any case, we invite the RATP to continue in this direction since it is necessary to ensure the public service mission.

"We have seen in recent months a disaster on the bus network, it must not happen again, we must indeed hire a lot more."

Transport is one of the key issues in the build-up to Paris 2024, with a report conducted by French National Assembly members describing the situation as "very worrying".

Among the concerns highlighted in the report published last week included the accessibility for disabled people, the construction of certain metro line, lack of personnel and the opening of bus lines.

Valérie Pécresse, head of the Île-de-France Mobilités which controls and coordinates the different transport companies operating in the Paris area, issued a letter to France’s Transport Minister Clément Beaune in a bid €200 million (£177 million/$214 million) for the transport improvements.