While the government should soon detail the modalities of the gradual reduction of the partial unemployment scheme put in place during the confinement, some economists, such as Bertrand Martinot, labor market specialist at the Montaigne Institute, fear that he will act as a brake on economic recovery.

Muriel Pénicaud, the Minister of Labor, confirmed on Wednesday: by the end of the week, the government will announce a reduction in the State's coverage of short-time working expenses. As of June 1, it will no longer be 100% of business spending but a little less. It must be said that several voices are beginning to be raised to say that when the resumption of activity begins, partial unemployment acts as a brake.

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Too generous a system?

"This system is by far the most favorable in Europe, for both the employee and the employer," notes at the microphone of Europe 1 Bertrand Martinot, economist specializing in the labor market at the Montaigne Institute. "But such a generous system can only be justified for sectors which cannot reopen. When one seeks to bring a maximum of people back to work, in the majority of economic sectors, this system begins to function as a massive subsidy to non-work, "he points out.

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For this economist, it is therefore necessary to "rapidly reduce the generosity" of short-time working, and even to ask employees for certain sacrifices to accelerate the revival of activity. "We could ask for counterparties, in terms of the elimination of days off or RTT, as is happening in Denmark," says Bertrand Martinot.