Month: November 2024

Monaco is set to revolutionise its employment services with a set of new digital tools designed to streamline processes for employers and job seekers as part of the ongoing Extended Monaco programme.

On 12th November, Monaco Life attended an event where Christophe Robino, Monaco’s Minister of Social Affairs and Health, and Frédéric Genta, the Interministerial Delegate for Attractiveness and Digital Transition, introduced a number of new online services aimed at improving employment-related processes for both employers and job seekers in the Principality. This move is part of the government’s broader Extended Monaco programme, which was launched in 2019 with the goal of enhancing digital transformation across various sectors.

“These advancements are aimed at equipping the Department of Employment with more effective and user-friendly tools, providing both employers and job seekers with streamlined and digitalised procedures,” said Robino.

The new services, now accessible through MonGuichet.mc, the government’s online portal for administrative procedures, have been tailored to meet employer demands for more accessible and efficient methods of managing job offers and recruitment.

“The goal is to make the employment journey simpler and more efficient for both parties, leveraging the technological products developed by the Princely Government,” explained Genta.

Feedback from employers during the initial presentations has been positive, with many welcoming the added convenience. The real test will come once the services are in regular use.

The first phase of these digital updates, set to launch this month, will feature a modernisation of the Department of Employment’s current tools. Notably, the launch will include two new dedicated sections on MonGuichet.mc: one for employers and another for job seekers. These spaces will allow users to post, view and manage job offers in real time. Additionally, after an initial priority period for specific users, job offers will be publicly accessible on MonServicePublic.mc, allowing for broader visibility and transparency of available job opportunities within Monaco.

By the end of 2025, the government plans to introduce even more advanced digital services with enhanced functionalities designed to improve the user experience further. These improvements will refine the interaction processes, making them more streamlined for job seekers and employers. The second phase is intended to add even more sophisticated features, building on the success of the initial launch.

Looking further ahead, the programme will enter its third phase in 2026, introducing more comprehensive updates to the system. This phase will focus on expanding the services to meet the evolving needs of Monaco’s workforce and employers.

Read related:

Monaco Employment Forum returning in February 2025

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Frédéric Genta, the Interministerial Delegate for Attractiveness and Digital Transition, fourth from left in photo; and Christophe Robino, Monaco’s Minister of Social Affairs and Health, fourth from right

Photo by Monaco Life

The owners of the five-star Maybourne Riviera hotel, which overlooks the Principality of Monaco from a rocky outcrop in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, are reportedly due in court next week to face accusations of multiple planning violations.

The Maybourne Riviera, formerly Vista Palace, was purchased at auction by Qatari royal Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani in 2014.

Over the subsequent seven years, the glass and steel edifice underwent a major reconstruction project that transformed the once dilapidated site into one of the most recognisable luxury hotels on the Riviera. Designed by the celebrated French architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte, whose other projects include the Allianz Riviera Stadium in Nice, the Grand Palais Ephémère in Paris, and the MoNa Residence in Monaco, the construction side of the project was handled by an Irish company headed by property mogul Paddy McKillen. It is this latter element that has caused controversy.

In February 2021, the Apave Group, an international construction engineering company, reportedly threatened to pull out of the project in a letter sent to the company managing the build, the Société d’Exploitation et de Détention Hôtelière Vista (SEDH). According to a report by Monaco Matin, the letter warned the SEDH of “significant material and immaterial risks” and of the Group’s concerns about the “stability of structures at the end of the work” due to the works carried out by McKillen’s company and contractors. The letter also noted “numerous non-compliances in fire safety”.

A few months later, the certified inspection office responsible for overseeing the project is understood to have alerted the SEDH to a number of potential building infractions and violations of local planning regulations, including excess square meterage. According to Monaco Matin, it is claimed that the vast majority of the flagged issues were ignored.

Then, in June 2021, a local safety commission reportedly gave the hotel its approval, noting just a handful of “minor issues,” reports Monaco Matin. The favourable review is noted by the local newspaper as being at odds with previous inspections.

It wasn’t until the following year that the extent of the issues relating to the Maybourne Riviera really came to the authorities’ attention. In August 2022, a Roquebrune-Cap-Martin opposition councillor, Marie-Christine Franc de Ferrière, filed a criminal complaint against the hotel. Two agents from the Prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes were sent to investigate and unearthed a number of infractions. They later produced a list four pages long, reports Monaco Matin.

It is this list of violations that will reportedly be the focus of the upcoming court case in Nice between the representatives of the former Emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani. According to the local newspaper, these representatives have told investigators that they were “deceived” by the Irish building company and only discovered the extent of the issues with the property when they received Apave’s letter in February 2021. The credibility of the Irish company has been further questioned by reports that it is not covered by décennale assurance, a mandatory insurance policy for construction projects.

The situation is further complicated by a new permit that was issued by the Roquebrune-Cap-Martin town hall in 2023, allowing the owners of the Maybourne Riviera to “regularise” its excess surface area. These works have not yet been carried out. 

Monaco Life is produced by real multi-media journalists writing original content. See more in our free newsletter, follow our Podcasts on Spotify, and check us out on Threads,  Facebook,  Instagram,  LinkedIn and Tik Tok. 

Photo of the Maybourne Riviera hotel in the hills above Monaco, by Monaco Life