Paris (AFP)

"It all stopped overnight." After the shock of confinement in the face of the Covid, companies have adapted, held out and their bosses, brought together this week by Medef, see this unprecedented crisis as a formidable "trend accelerator", despite the uncertainties still present.

“It was a shock to hear at 8 pm: at midnight, everything has to be closed,” says Julia Sedefdjian, star chef in Paris. Suddenly, her turnover is reduced to nothing but, driven by "the instinct of survival", the restaurateur "goes back to the kitchen", first by offering "one or two take-out dishes".

The astonishment, the transport sector has also experienced it: "it was no longer the certain world that we knew, we learned to navigate in uncertainty with a capital I", testifies Nathalie Stubler, CEO of Transavia France. "Our job is mobility and suddenly the crisis has made us all immobile", adds Christophe Fanichet, CEO of SNCF Voyageurs.

At Carrefour, on the front line to feed the French, "we provided the public food service, we remained open, we protected our employees," says CEO Alexandre Bompard. He welcomes the fact that thanks to this crisis, "the outlook on the mass distribution sector has changed: we have proven our social usefulness".

This crisis was "a moment of truth" for Mr. Bompard, a "life-size test of the resilience of the system" for Frédéric Oudéa, the CEO of Société Générale, also proud that the banking profession has succeeded in "two weeks" to offer its clients the State Guaranteed Loan (PGE). By mid-August, nearly 120 billion euros had been distributed to companies.

Another factor of pride, the immediate mobilization of employees, who responded present. "We did not have a right of withdrawal. Everyone was on the bridge, with the means at hand at the beginning because there were no masks," testifies Bertrand Camus, CEO of Suez. "But we adapted, we found together, with the teams, the ways of operating."

- "a before and an after" -

If the crisis is not over, everyone agrees that it has precipitated tremendous transformations in all sectors.

In online food retailing, "there will be a before and an after," says Alexandre Bompard. "We have made more progress in three months than in the previous three years," according to the CEO of Carrefour.

Ditto at L'Oréal, where confinement forced the company to "accelerate [its] digital transformation", in particular to keep in contact with customers, according to the general manager for France, Hervé Navellou.

At Société Générale, teleworking has worked so well that the bank has decided to "systematize" its use, at the rate of "two to three times a week".

The CEO of Suez also welcomes an accelerated "awareness" of climate issues. Be careful "not to make the same mistake as in 2008 when we sacrificed the environment for the economy," he warned, however.

But as the epidemic appears to be showing signs of recovery, the bosses remain cautious. "The economic situation is very difficult to decipher", recognizes Alexandre Bompard.

"We have a development project, with growth, additional flights", but "in the meantime, my commitment is to remain positive and to find ways and means to do the rounder", also testifies the boss of Transavia France .

Chef Julia Sedefdjian assures us that she is "ready" in the event of re-containment, but her relationship to the weather has changed: "we do our shopping the day for the next day."

If the obligation to wear a mask in a company is rather well accepted, the bosses no longer want to be forced to stop their activities again. "We have to manage to communicate fairly, that we avoid being too scary because we can not repay a second confinement", launched Frédéric Oudéa, to applause.

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