“The boating sector is suffering at the moment…” A little phrase that has recently been coming back into the mouths of local economic decision-makers in Charente-Maritime. The president of the Grand Pavois, Alain Pochon, recently told “Sud Ouest”: “we have the impression of a decline in business when we look at the figures”. The Federation of Nautical Industries in fact places the number of registrations of new boats in France at -23.1% over 2023-2024.
A slowdown which results in the return of technical unemployment, that is to say measures to reduce or suspend the working hours of all or part of the staff to lighten the burden in the face of cyclical financial difficulties and not to lay off workers while waiting for better days.
High end
To benefit from the system which gives the right to a State allowance, you need the green light from the Departmental Directorate of Employment, Labor, Solidarity and Population Protection (DDETSPP). Something that has no longer happened in the boating industry since the end of the Covid-19 crisis.
In 2022, no beneficiary company, in 2023 only one. But for the first nine months of 2024, Xavier Gabillaud, director of the DDETSPP in Charente-Maritime, has eight companies, for a total of around 300 employees. Over nine months, the State released 700,000 euros to support businesses in different sectors. Boating alone consumed 27%.
Should we be worried when Bénéteau, a heavyweight in the Vendée boating industry, is going through a difficult time with massive recourse to technical unemployment? Sector specialist at France Travail, Nicolas Bertrand puts things into perspective. Certainly, the number of job offers is falling and temporary contracts are becoming rarer. But “there are still recruitments”. Particularly in the high end (Dufour, Fountaine-Pajot, Amel, etc.), very present in Charente-Maritime and less affected by the slowdown than mid-range products. Have we reached the bottom of the wave? Vigilance is required for the coming months.
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