“We are at the beginning of a violent industrial bloodletting.” In an interview with The TribuneSunday November 10, the general secretary of the CGT, Sophie Binet, did not mince her words to depict what is happening in the French economy. “It is estimated that more than 150,000 jobs will disappear, probably more,” and this “in all sectors”specified the trade unionist. After Michelin, social plans risk multiplying in French factories, warned the Minister of Industry, Marc Ferracci, speaking to France Inter on Saturday.
For Sophie Binet, this “bleeding” is due to the “strategy” companies of “always increase margins” and of “distribute ever more profits to shareholders”. For the Minister of the Economy, Antoine Armand, it is linked to “an extraordinarily demanding international situation with the cost of raw materials, the question of energy” et “aggressive commercial practices from many countries”. The automobile and chemical industries will be particularly affected, but not only. Franceinfo tours the affected sectors.
The automobile industry at the forefront of Asian competition
The Michelin group was the first to shake the sector in France by announcing, on November 5, the closure, before 2026, of the sites of Cholet (Maine-et-Loire) and Vannes (Morbihan), which account for a total of 1,254 employees. The French giant cites Asian competition on van and heavy goods vehicle tires, specialties of these two factories, but also the “deterioration of Europe’s competitiveness”. “Michelin’s commitment is that no one is left without a solution”recalled Marc Ferracci on France Inter, however criticizing the way in which the announcement was made by the equipment manufacturer.
Beyond Michelin, the entire sector is affected by the decline in sales on the continent, low-cost Chinese competition and the slow pace of electrification. As the boss of the CGT pointed out, “there is a domino effect throughout the subcontracting chain”. In Châteauroux (Indre), employees of the automotive subcontractor GMD fear for their future, reports France 3 Center Val de Loire. The group is one of the largest French automotive equipment manufacturers with 5,259 employees around the world at the end of 2023, including 1,825 in France. It has a turnover of almost a billion euros but is weighed down by its debts. Its sale to a structure of billionaire Pierre-Edouard Stérin is under discussion.
The French factories of the manufacturer Stellantis will for their part be determined on their fate in mid-November, when they will receive their three-year production plan. Some have already reduced their workforce, such as at the end of October in Rennes (250 temporary positions eliminated) or at the beginning of January in Mulhouse (600).
France is not the only one concerned. In Germany, the automotive supplier Schaeffler announced on Tuesday the elimination of 4,700 jobs in Europe, as well as the closure of two sites. And after the social plans of the largest equipment manufacturers Bosch, ZF and Continental, the Volkswagen group is in turn threatening to close three factories and cut tens of thousands of jobs.
The problem must be addressed on a continental scale, believes the Minister of Industry. “Commercial protection against Chinese vehicles must be designed at European level”argued Marc Ferracci, evoking “an ecological bonus on a European scale” or a “common European loan” to finance “support mechanisms” to the sector.
Chemistry victim of energy costs
The chemistry sector, particularly sensitive to energy costs, for its part stated, in mid-October, that it feared losing “15,000 jobs” out of 200,000 in three years. Already, a thousand job cuts have taken place in recent months at Solvay, Syensqo, Weylchem Lamotte, in addition to the 670 planned by the petrochemical group ExxonMobil in Port-Jérôme, in Normandy. In the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, the bankruptcy of Vencorex, on the Pont-de-Claix (Isère) chemical platform, puts “nearly 5,000 jobs at stake” in other industrial sectors that the group supplies, estimates the CGT.
Here too, the dropout is perceptible throughout Europe. German chemistry, the world's largest, is paying the consequences of the loss of cheap Russian gas. Unilever, Evonik, BASF have also announced workforce reductions.
The space industry is struggling against SpaceX
In mid-October, employees of the defense and space branch of Airbus, which notably manufactures satellites and has 35,000 employees, were informed by email of a “reduction of the number of positions up to 2,500” in 2026. The company explained that in the space branch, “significant financial charges were recorded in 2023 and 2024”. The Minister of Industry assured that he would ensure that there were no layoffs, as employees would be reclassified in other Airbus entities.
The space branch of the French group is subject to American competition, more particularly that of SpaceX and its boss Elon Musk, who has technology far ahead of Europe for the conquest of space. Orders are therefore falling for European telecommunications satellites. Thales, one of the European leaders in the sector, announced in March a redeployment plan within the group of 1,300 positions from its space branch Thales Alenia Space, including 1,000 in France.
In March, Philippe Baptiste, the president of Cnes, the French space agency, warned that “the European space industry today is at risk” because she is not going “not fast enough” et “failed to take the turn towards industrialization”.
Mass distribution, a changing sector that is paying the price for inflation
The blow fell on the same day as Michelin's announcement: after several difficult years, the distributor Auchan announced on Tuesday that it planned to eliminate 2,389 jobs in France out of 54,000 in the country, notably through the closure of 'around ten stores. “It’s catastrophic. It’s going to leave many, many employees and families in difficulty. It’s shocking, scandalous”complained to AFP Franck Martineau, FO Auchan Retail union delegate. Management hopes to limit the number of redundancies, through support for the employees concerned, retraining training, reclassification leave and a voluntary departure plan.
If the group's situation is specific, with operating costs higher than its competitors, its difficulties illustrate the changes in the mass distribution sector. Sociologist Jean Viard points to franceinfo “l’inflation”competition from hard-discount chains like Lidl and Aldi, and “a major new entrant, e-commerce”.
“The great pandemic has pushed everyone to order online, and that is costing jobs in supermarkets.”
Jean Viard, sociologiston franceinfo
Far behind the undisputed leader, E.Leclerc, the most fragile did not resist. The Casino group has thus sold almost all of its supermarkets and hypermarkets to several competitors, notably Auchan, Intermarché and Carrefour. Refocused around the Monoprix, Franprix, Vival and Petit Casino brands, the group now only has an annual turnover of 9 billion euros, approximately six times less than Leclerc. A job protection plan is underway and could affect more than 3,000 positions. As for Cora, bought by Carrefour, 340 positions are threatened with the closure of the headquarters in Seine-et-Marne.
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