Still in the middle of a debate on the budget, the government is putting forward a new avenue to make savings: increasing working hours. It was the Minister of the Economy, Antoine Armand, who said this this Sunday in an interview with Les Échos, without specifying the terms.
The Social Security budget returns to the National Assembly chamber this Monday, from 10 a.m. One of the avenues put forward by the government to relieve the Social Security budget is to increase working hours.
The Minister of the Economy Antoine Armand said it again this Sunday in an interview with Les Échos, without really specifying the terms. Will it be one more day of solidarity or one less day off?
For the 2025 budget, nothing has yet been decided. But one thing is certain, “the objective must be to increase the number of hours worked over the year to finance our social protection model”, explains the minister.
The end of the 35 hours?
Antoine Armand sent his proposals to the Prime Minister, Michel Barnier. “Above all, he wants to reassure the economic sector” and show that Emmanuel Macron’s pro-business policy “is not dead,” explains one of his close friends. Once the budget test has been passed, Bercy does not refrain from going further and thinking about extending working hours.
Will they go so far as to return to the 35-hour week, as Gérald Darmanin proposes? In any case, working more would be synonymous with “an increase in state revenue and more independence” assures a ministerial advisor.
Stéphane Duguet with Guillaume Descours
