• The issue of wage increases is at the heart of public debate.

  • Some occupations with labor shortages could have increases.

  • But the issues of job quality and training remain just as important.

Will pay increases rain this year?

While France has been in the process of economic recovery for several months, several sectors are struggling to find labor.

At the beginning of September, the Union of local businesses (U2P) assured that "30% of companies" were experiencing "recruitment difficulties", in particular because of the lack of candidates.

Certain sectors, such as hotels and restaurants, or even construction, are particularly affected.

Faced with this observation, the president of Medef, Geoffroy Roux de Bézieux, recognized at the end of August that "there will inevitably be fairly significant (salary) increases next year".

And this Wednesday, Prime Minister Jean Castex called for the opening of negotiations between employers and unions in the professional branches affected by recruitment difficulties.

A little increase ... but not too much

“Such discussions have already been initiated in seven branches: prevention and safety, road transport, (…) trade, waste, cleaning, retail trade, fruit and vegetables and finally (…) home help (…)” a-t -He underlines.

In the latter sector, wage increases of 13 to 15% have already been recorded for employees of associations.

“Contrary to what we have been told for a long time, wage increases are not the enemy of employment or competitiveness,” says Yves Veyrier, General Secretary of Force Ouvrière.

The change in discourse is notable, especially in government, and that's good ”.

The revaluation movement therefore seems well underway for certain professions perceived today as unattractive.

However, according to economist Mireille Bruyère interviewed by Marianne, we should not expect a tidal wave.

According to her, companies have every interest in not increasing wages too much in order to continue to benefit from exemptions: “the reductions in these contributions apply for wages that do not exceed 1.6 times the minimum wage.

The system decreases as wages increase (…) The exemptions ultimately lead to a reduction in wages around the minimum wage ”.

Quality and training

In addition, to convince candidates, the payslip does not do everything. The hotel and catering industry, for example, was pinned down by the Minister of Labor Elisabeth Borne before the holidays. “This is an area where there are a lot of fixed-term contracts. People may also want longer contracts. It must be something important, to have better quality jobs, ”she explained last June. “We need a global revaluation of these jobs, especially all those in the“ second line ”(cashiers, transporters), to make them more attractive, beyond the salary,” said Yves Veyrier.

In addition, recruitment difficulties can also be linked to a lack of training. In digital, for example, the supply of web developers (ie people with the necessary skills) is lower than the demand of companies. Consequently, even if companies strongly increase their wages, the shortage of labor will always be there. "When we directly question business leaders, the main obstacle to recruitment is not the salary, it is first and foremost the lack of skills of job seekers, which leads to record recruitment difficulties. cohabit with mass unemployment ”assures Emmanuel Jessua, economist at the Rexecode Institute.

Finally, for sectors that are not affected by these difficulties, we should not expect an exceptional 2021 vintage.

According to a Mercer study released this summer, companies are forecasting wage increases of around 1.4% for this year.

A percentage lower than inflation (which could reach 2% in 2021), which means that even with an increased pay, employees will lose some purchasing power.

They will still be luckier than those who get no raise.

According to Mercer, this affects more than 55% of employees in the companies surveyed.

Bordeaux

Coronavirus in Gironde: Faced with the labor shortage, catering or construction "must offer something other than a fixed-term contract at the minimum wage"

Economy

Pension reform: Jean Castex ensures that the conditions are "still not met"

  • Smic

  • Use

  • Economy

  • salary

  • Business

  • Unemployment