This morning, like all the others, Gilles Cavallari listened carefully to the latest news on the radio. Between the war in Ukraine and the twists and turns of the pandemic, the president of Samsic Emploi is trying to predict what the future will hold for the some 20,000 employees employed every day by his temporary work company. “Temporary work is the primary adjustment variable for variations in activity”recalls the leader.
A leading indicator of the job market, temporary work seemed to have emerged from the crisis at the start of the year. Temporary help companies saw a spike of 14% more hiring in January and 13.2% in February, compared to the equivalent months in 2021, the report says. Prism’emploi barometer published on April 14, the federation of professionals in the sector. That is 89,130 additional full-time equivalents (FTE) over one year, for a total of 762,500 temporary workers.
Due to the normalization of the health situation, trade (+20.9%) and services (+16.8%) were the sectors that experienced the most vigorous recovery, followed by industry (+16. .3%). After months of virtual stagnation, due to the cost of materials and supply difficulties, the construction industry experienced a timid rise (+4.4%).
Wait-and-see attitude
Encouraging, the evolution of these last months “However, cannot predict future trends, given the current geopolitical and economic uncertainties”, warns Prism’emploi. The Ministry of Labor statistics compared to one month on the other indicate a slight decline also in February, but compared to January: after six consecutive months of increase, the number of temporary workers fell for the first time by 2.4%. “The trend remains bullish, but we are seeing a decline,” observes Gilles Cavallari. In the opinion of this interim specialist, the war in Ukraine and the nuclear threat have prompted companies to take refuge in a wait-and-see attitude, “even if the situation seems to be normalizing”.
Other factors may have emptied the order books: “The cost of materials and the outbreak of Covid-19 in China, which is impacting the entire supply chain; without forgetting the avian flu », lists the president of Samsic Emploi. In Deux-Sèvres, 200 temporary workers found themselves on the floor in April due to the drastic reduction in supplies to slaughterhouses, we learn West France.
“It only takes one subcontractor to be affected for the entire supply chain to suffer”, confirms Alexandre Pham. The president of the interim company Mistertemp’ also notes that the repercussions of the war in Ukraine are being felt on the activity, but “in a very targeted way” : the automotive sector, which was already suffering from the shortage of components from Asia, “is almost at a standstill”, he said.
You have 9.85% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.