It's not just the tech sector that's suffocating. More than 7,500 jobs threatened, around forty industrial sites in danger: the horizon is also darkening for French industry. Since last September, restructuring announcements have multiplied at a worrying pace, suggesting a particularly difficult year 2024 for the French manufacturing sector. Experts even fear the resurgence of a crisis comparable to that of 2008. An investigation carried out by Les Echos points out this sad reality.
Industrial bastions in shock
The North and East of France, historically industrial territories, are bearing the brunt of this new wave of restructuring. In the Somme, the president of the department Stéphane Haussoulier sounds the alarm: “ 1,500 jobs are directly in danger “. The department, still marked by the closure of Goodyear (world tire giant), a decade ago, today sees flagships like Ynsect (fertilizer manufacturer) in Amiens or the Watts factory (sanitary and heating) in Hautvillers-Ouville.
The West is not spared, as evidenced by Michelin's shock announcement concerning the closure of its Cholet and Vannes sites. More than a thousand employees find themselves in uncertainty. At the same time, Delpeyrat is planning the closure of its slaughterhouses in Sèvremont in Vendée and Vic-Fezensac in Gers, while the automotive supplier Valeo is restructuring three of its locations.
We are paying very dearly today for French industrial policies which have too often favored short-term solutions and one-off measures. to the detriment of a long-term vision. This penchant for the short term is the financialization of the economy and the insufficiency of aid to SMEs which have led certain companies to favor immediate profitability.
A multi-sector phenomenon that is accelerating
The figures further demonstrate a rapid deterioration of the situation. At the Lille commercial court, failures now concern 6,000 employees over the first ten months of 2024, twice as much as in 2023. « Weakened companies are always bigger. Social plans? We already have it and we will have more », notes Eric Feldmann, president of the court.
Dares, which compiles Employment Protection Plans (PSE), recorded 159 procedures in the third quarter of 2023, a doubling compared to the previous year. « Employers can no longer stand still. We are in real restructuring plans, leading to numerous job cuts », analyzes Alain Petitjean, associate director of the Alpha group.
This economic shambles is explained by a combination of factors : consumption at half mast due to purchasing power which continues to decline, sluggish growth, high energy costs, and falling margins. The massive destocking phenomenon risks prolonging these difficulties until 2025, with companies prioritizing the sale of their stocks over new orders.
Antoine Armand, Minister of the Economy, even anticipates a deterioration in the months to comewhile the CGT mentions nearly 200 current or future layoff plans. Even more worrying, according to the OFCE, more than 150,000 jobs could be threatened soon. THE Made in Franceembodied by SMEs, VSEs and ETIs, is our economical life insurance. By revitalizing our production, we are creating sustainable jobs and reducing our dependence abroad: however, the exact opposite is happening.
- A wave of restructuring is hitting French industry hard, threatening more than 7,500 jobs and around forty sites.
- Historical industrial territories, such as the North and the East, are heavily affected by waves of closures and job cuts.
- Structural and cyclical factors are aggravating the crisis, suggesting a difficult year in 2024 for the manufacturing sector.
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