They are 14% to consider a return to normal later while 19% are uncertain, according to a biannual survey by Bpifrance.
Two out of three SMEs and VSEs believe that they will have regained their pre-crisis level of activity by the end of 2022, according to a study published on Wednesday by Bpifrance.
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They are 14% to consider a return to normal later while 19% are in uncertainty, according to this latest semi-annual survey conducted by the public bank. After a loss of turnover of 13% in 2020 on average due to the health crisis, VSEs and SMEs expect their average activity to increase by 7% in 2021, according to the responses of more than 5,000 companies operating in this survey. Only 41% of VSEs and SMEs say they have already regained their pre-crisis turnover at the end of 2021, while in May they were 46% to think that they would return to this level before the end of the year, notes Philippe Mutricy, director of studies at Bpifrance. He explains that “SMEs and VSEs are globally confident for 2022”, particularly in industry, which has a ripple effect on other sectors.
But very small businesses with less than 10 employees “Recover their pre-crisis level of activity less quickly than SMEs”, notes Philippe Mutricy. According to him, “We are still in the rebound, but we still have a tendency to slow down growth”, due to the persistence of supply difficulties and recruitment problems, which 82% of companies say they encounter.
Supply difficulties
Supply difficulties affect 65% of VSEs and SMEs, and for 43% of them, limit their production. Industry, construction and commerce are particularly affected, affected respectively by 92%, 90% and 87%. The hope of seeing this brake dissipate at the end of the year was moreover dampened since the extension of delivery times and the increase in the cost of inputs intensified between September and November, with 37% of companies declaring to do so. face “To a total shortage of one or more components”.
To cope with the rebound in activity, companies seem to have accelerated their hiring in 2021, but more slowly than previously anticipated, employment being more dynamic in SMEs with at least 10 employees than in VSEs.
Finally, state guaranteed loans (PGE) “Still remain largely in reserve for a little more than half of the beneficiaries”, even if the share of those who say they have used almost all of them increased from 24% to 29% between May and November 2021.