In France, the social winter promises to be harsh. While the country is plunged into political uncertainty and public finances are in the red, the state of the economy is of great concern. The fall was marked by a wave of social plans and business failures. If the closures announced by large groups like Michelin, Auchan or ArcelorMittal have attracted attention, small businesses are not spared from the crisis, on the contrary.
From our special correspondent in Marseille,
At the end of November, François Asselin, the president of the Confederation of Small and Medium Enterprises, sounded the alarm. He denounces the “ plus grand plan social » underway in small businesses. In Marseille, in the South of FrancePascale Clergue knows this problem well: « When you are standing on a construction site, that means that you are standing with your company and therefore that means that you are not dead…”, declares this cbusiness manager, who welcomes us to one of the projects she is managing, that of the future Loyola Jesuit college, located in a rapidly changing area of the city.
In March 2023, his construction engineering company was placed in receivership while it was insolvent. “ Cessation of payment is when you arrive at the beginning of the month and you can no longer pay your employees' salaries, explains Pascale Clergue. I was 11, so it was very complicated. »
To save the company, shaken by repeated crises, it was necessary to fire everyone. « The reasons are multiple. Of course, there was Covid-19. For two months, construction sites stopped, my cash flow became catastrophic, she laments. After Covid-19, we were lucky to have a lot of work in 2021, so we hired. However, we were too fair and when, in 2022, real estate started to fall, interest rates [ont augmenté]permits were not issued, etc. we dove. We did not have enough resources to be able to keep employees in the company. »
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« We have social plans that are monumental”
Anne Jegat is a business manager and judge at the Salon-de-Provence commercial court. She is therefore at the forefront of the current crisis. « The commercial court is a court for bosses, managed by bosses, voluntarily. We judge, but we advise a lot. »She explains that social plans affect VSEs and SMEs less than larger companies: « They're still called SMEs, but they're big SMEs. We have social plans which are monumental, which we were not used to, businesses which supported many people and which are collapsing. »
Now alone and heavily in debt, Pascale Clergue looks at the current turmoil with concern, but she wants to believe that she is now better prepared to face the storm. « This crossing over two years is what taught me the most as a business leader, she assures. So, I'm not saying that all business leaders should file for bankruptcy and start up a business. But I believe Steve Jobs said: “To be an excellent business leader, you have to sink your business three times.” »
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