While Emmanuel Macron is to announce a stimulus plan for the aeronautics industry on Tuesday, concerns are growing over job losses due to the Covid-19 epidemic. The worst-case scenario foresees up to two million more unemployed.
“There will be bankruptcies and there will be layoffs in the coming months.” Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire recently preferred frankness to ellipse to discuss the economic situation that awaits France in the weeks and months to come. The Covid-19 epidemic crisis, now “under control” in France, was followed by a socio-economic crisis of great magnitude, a “historic recession” never seen since the end of the Second World War. The figures for the public deficit and debt, growth rates and unemployment are already a glaring illustration of this.
Some are already talking about millions more unemployed, like the United States where 40 million people have lost their jobs. In France, where state aid (partial unemployment, deferral of social security contributions, etc.) has played the role of shock absorber, some are counting on 2 million more unemployed people for some time. Occitanie, with a particularly affected aeronautical sector, could lose up to 40,000 jobs, according to Alain Di Crescenzo, president of the Occitanie Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI).
Unemployment trends in France
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Companies in difficulty are multiplying in all areas: Renault, Engie, Daher, Airbus, Derichebourg, Air France-KLM, Alinéa, Naf Naf, La Halle, Conforama, TUI France, Ford, aeronautical subcontractors, etc. Employees on fixed-term contracts, temporary workers and temporary workers are among the first victims of the coming crisis.
Massive support and recovery plans
With massive support and recovery plans, the European Union, the member countries or the European Central Bank have shown their willingness to support employment, but the total absence of activity during periods of containment will not be made up for by companies, small or large, in certain sectors which are very affected.
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“Prohibiting layoffs does not make sense,” says Bruno Ducoudré
In addition, States cannot widen their deficits indefinitely and will have to find new mechanisms. Some want to question the 35-hour week or propose lower wages against keeping jobs. A cold shower for employees already hard hit by confinement. Nearly seven in ten working people (69%) consider it “unacceptable”, against 31% of a contrary opinion, that companies in economic difficulty due to the health crisis propose lower wages to avoid layoffs, according to an Odoxa survey -Dentsu Consulting for France Info and Le Figaro, broadcast on Thursday. The idea, Odoxa points out, is largely frowned upon, “regardless of the social background, territory, age, or even partisan orientation of the interviewees.” “Only one exception: the supporters of La République en Marche are a majority of 53% against 47% to approve …”
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Unemployment: “40,000 jobs threatened” in Occitania
The priority for the executive, however, is to respond to the concerns of the French: 41% of working people interviewed by Odoxa say they are afraid of losing their jobs. This proportion is over 50% among workers and exceeds 60% among self-employed workers … Emmanuel Macron, who must make announcements to French people on the world after July 14, has already set a course: rebuilding the economy by investing in “a low-carbon future”. Green growth, therefore, which remains to be built, which will create new jobs but also destroy many …
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