on construction sites, questions multiply after the fall of the Barnier government

The lack of political stability and the rejection of the 2025 budget are particularly worrying on construction sites, where public works companies are very often dependent on public procurement.

A climate of uncertainty. In Aubervilliers, on the former site of Paris warehouses and general stores, Carlos Fardila and his team are currently repairing part of the damaged road after subsidence. The day after the vote on the motion of censure, which overthrew the government of Michel Barnier on the evening of Wednesday December 4, the questions multiplied for the site manager: “Where are we going? What are we going to do with ? With whom ? That's the problem : who pays ?”

During this period, it is difficult to plan ahead for this worker who has worked in public works for more than 40 years. “You realize that in 2024, we don’t know what we’re going to do in 2025deplores Carlos Fardila. It's not possible, a company needs a little visibility. If it has no visibility, what do we do? It cannot invest or hire.”

What Mike Gomes, a public works worker for 16 years, fears is the drop in activity. An unfortunate experience that he already had in his former company: “There were partial unemployment systems or things like that, but it’s always scary…”he whispers.

“In society, we have never experienced this and we hope not to get to that point. When we have a drop in activity, we worry about whether or not we will have work.”

Today the risk is that local authorities – which finance public works – will put everything on hold, fears Francis Dubrac, the boss of the public works company Dubrac TP which employs 400 employees: “If communities save money, they will certainly cut back on investment, perhaps no longer build a road, no longer maintain a school or postpone the construction of a school. So it is really a serious concern when We don’t know where we’re going.”

And there will inevitably be consequences for employment, warns Francis Dubrac: “The latest arrivals are those we had the most difficulty recruiting because construction is not the sexiest of professions. All these young people who we sought out, trained and made to love the profession, I I wouldn't want to have to part with it, it would be heartbreaking.” While waiting for a little more stability, the business manager assures that he will do everything not to separate from his employees.