ArcelorMittal which announced the closure of its sites in Reims and Denain (135 employees) on November 25, Le Coq sportif (330 employees) placed in receivership two days earlier, the fate of the 450 employees of the Vencorex chemical factory suspended until in March, and, most recently, Wednesday November 27, 868 job cuts at the automotive supplier Valeo… The announcement of the closure of two Michelin sites and of a restructuring plan at Auchan, recording the dismissal of nearly 4,000 employees in a single day on Tuesday, November 5, came as a shock. The morale of the French is affected: their fears of unemployment are at their highest since May 2021, indicates INSEE, Wednesday November 27.
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Announced several months ago, the wave of business failures is indeed here. The number of collective procedures opened – therefore including safeguard procedures, launched as soon as there is cessation of payments, receiverships and judicial liquidations – is at its highest in fifteen years. “ We should reach around 65,000 procedures in total by the end of 2024”estimates François-Charles Desprat, president of the National Council of Judicial Administrators and Judicial Agents.
“Over the first ten months of the year, this exceptional volume of failures – there are approximately 55,000 bankruptcies per year at cruising speed – directly affects more than 160,000 jobs. » A spectacular figure, but which has increased less quickly than the number of bankruptcies, up 20% compared to 2023. Explanation: “We are observing a significant flow of very small businesses, without employees and sometimes without activity », explains Mr. Desprat. On the sector side, real estate, which was very hard hit over the first eight months of the year, seems to be experiencing a respite. On the other hand, among the files that arrive in the offices of administrators and legal representatives: construction companies, commerce, the accommodation and catering sector, etc.
Added to the accumulation of bankruptcies are announcements of restructuring outside of any legal procedure. On Wednesday, November 27, the CGT indicated that it had identified 286 job reduction plans since September 2023, estimating that between 128,250 and 200,330 direct, indirect and induced jobs are eliminated or threatened. Its general secretary, Sophie Binet, called on employees to “go on strike and occupy their factories” facing this “bleeding”.
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