During the National Industry Council on Monday, Prime Minister Jean Castex invited companies to conclude "massively and very quickly" long-term partial activity agreements.

And for good reason, they are few to use this device, preferring a branch agreement.

Yet here too, there are not as many agreements as the government would like. 

While all economists are forecasting a surge in unemployment in the coming months, the government is putting pressure on businesses.

At a meeting of the National Industry Council on Monday, Prime Minister Jean Castex invited them to conclude "massively and very quickly" long-term partial activity agreements.

And for good reason, on the side of companies many prefer to rely on a branch agreement.

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A delay within the branches 

This is particularly the case for SMEs, which, for lack of union representatives, are not equipped to conduct negotiations.

But this delay can also be seen within the branches.

Apart from the metallurgy sector at the end of July and that of the Syntec federation, agreements are rare.

And yet the stakes are high, as the Managing Director of the Syntec Federation, Mathieu Rosy, explains at the microphone of Europe 1. "We believe that if nothing is done within the branch [of Syntec] , the potential for layoffs over the next 2-3 years will be between 70,000 and 100,000 jobs. "

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"Tell you how many can be avoided thanks to this agreement, I cannot, but we know that of these 70,000 potential losses, a significant part will be saved by this device," he says. 

More or less cautious sectors

Despite these advantages, certain sectors remain in retreat, this is particularly the case in the building sector, which rather leaves it to businesses, or textiles, which are thinking of getting started.

For their part, hotels, cafes and restaurants may well be the next sector to conclude an agreement, as will the cleaning sector.