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The health crisis left the French economy bloodless. "The only answer is to build a stronger sustainable economic model, to work and to produce more so as not to depend on others," said Emmanuel Macron during his televised address on Sunday evening. But what does this formulation really mean? Will the French have to work more to absorb the financial consequences of covid-19? "Work and produce more" means "work all" said the Minister of Economy, Bruno Le Maire, Monday at the microphone of Franceinfo.
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In the minister's mind, the goal is not to give up days off or RTT, but rather to find a job for young people who enter the job market in a few months. It will also be necessary to be vigilant as for the employment of the seniors, and to take care that one does not massively dismiss people of more than 50 years by solution of facility.
Charges exemptions or hiring bonuses
For economist Nicolas Bouzou, interviewed by Europe 1, it is necessary to anchor new habits to deal with the crisis. "We are in an economic situation which is extremely serious with a recession which will be the strongest since the 1940s," he notes. "We have to get out of it, it is a collective duty especially for young people. And it is the speed at which we get out that is most important."
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"That is to say that if we come out in a year and a half, that we have returned to a normal economic level, all this will be a very bad memory but it will not be more serious than that. But if we find a normal level of activity in three or four years, an entire generation of young people will be sacrificed, "he laments. The solutions lie in the stimulus plans put in place by the government, but also in new measures on the labor market, such as aid for apprenticeships, exemptions from contributions or even hiring bonuses.
No questioning of the 35 hours
To get rid of any misinterpretation of the President's formula, Bruno Le Maire has therefore dismissed the tracks several times mentioned in the recent political debate, in particular that of putting the 35-hour period in brackets to allow companies to relaunch more massive their activity. Muriel Pénicaud, Minister of Labor, had already said several times this week that the current legal system of hours of work offered enough flexibility and that it was not necessary to open a new breach.
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So how do we make this "work all" happen, knowing that 800,000 jobs are expected to disappear in the coming months? This is the subject of current discussions between the social partners and the Ministry of Labor. The discussions will focus in particular on the long-term partial activity, which the government wishes to set up and which will condition a continuation of the payment of State aid to an engagement by the job-keeping companies.