Carole Ferry 10:50 am, November 22, 2021

For two years, the trend has been to freeze wages in all sectors.

But with the recovery and rising inflation, expectations are very high on the side of employees.

While some sectors have already planned to increase wages, in others the increases have not yet been acquired.

The big ball of salary negotiations is on.

For two years, because of the Covid-19 crisis, the trend has been rather to freeze salaries.

But now that the recovery is here, that inflation is expected at 2% and that some employees have invested a lot during the health crisis, expectations are much higher on the side of employees.

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Increase on the banks' side

This observation made the Medef boss, Geoffroy Roux de Bézieux, say that we can hope for wage increases in 2022. But not all sectors are concerned.

The first to get the ball rolling are the banks, which often set the general tone.

Result: it will be 1% collective increase at HSBC, 0.8% for the Banque Populaire and the Savings Bank and 0.6% at BNP Paribas.

If you add the individual increases, we are a little over 2%.

It's better than usual and it should be the trend for 2022.

But in some sectors, especially those struggling to recruit, wage increases could be even larger.

Ski lifts at ski resorts, for example, have granted a wage increase of more than 3% to attract seasonal workers this winter.

Tense negotiations in the catering industry

Negotiations are more tense in the catering industry: the employers' organizations have proposed a wage increase of 10.5% and no thirteenth month.

The unions said no and everyone is due to meet again in mid-December.

In road transport, it is the big gap: the unions ask for at least 10% increase.

The employers, him, two to three times less.

There too, everyone must meet again on December 6 with a threat of strike action.

During the health crisis, the government greeted the front-line workers and in particular the employees of the mass distribution.

In their branch, negotiations are progressing with difficulty.

The unions will be received this week at the Ministry of Labor.

The bulk of the talks are expected to begin in January.

But employers' organizations recall that their employees already benefit from a thirteenth month.

Sometimes also a profit-sharing or a participation.

A way of preparing minds for a rather frugal negotiating table.