The concept of virtual companies, also known as practice firms, traces its roots to Germany after World War II, when large numbers of people needed to reorient their skills. Intended to supplement vocational training, the centers emerged in earnest across Europe in the 1950s and spread rapidly in the last two decades. Today about 5,000 practice firms operate on the Continent, with at least 2,500 elsewhere in the world, including the United States.
Within France, 12 new centers have sprung up since 2013, said Pierre Troton, the director of Euro Ent’Ent, which oversees the nation’s network of 110 virtual companies.
“We have more long-term unemployed people than ever before,” he said. Most are under 25 and have either not found work or are getting only precarious temporary jobs. But there is also a surge in unemployed people over 50. “Today,” Mr. Troton said, “more and more people who lose their jobs stay jobless.”
Inside virtual companies, workers rotate through payroll, accounting, advertising and other departments. They also receive virtual salaries to spend within the make-believe economy.
Some of the faux companies even hold strikes — a common occurrence in France. Axisco, a virtual payment processing center in Val d’Oise, recently staged a fake protest, with slogans and painted banners, to teach workers’ rights and to train human resources staff members to calm tensions.
“The products and the money are fake, but you call a virtual firm in Switzerland and a person answers,” said Helene Dereuddre, 19, who was receiving administrative training at Candelia. “You call the bank and you get a counselor,” she said. “When you get into it, people see that they are capable of learning and working.”
