Amir (all names have been changed) took precautions before answering: he settled into a soundproof room but still preferred to speak quietly. “I don’t want to make waves, or be stigmatized or given ungrateful things.”, he breathes. At 24, this business school student, Franco-Algerian, has been doing an internship at Société Générale for several months.
Following the announcement of the dissolution, Amir felt the wind change in his open space, struck by the observation “the trivialization of the RN [Rassemblement national] among a very wealthy and educated population”. Usually, his team would trade “mostly banalities.” “The discussions are more electric now.”says the man who voted for the New Popular Front in the first round of the legislative elections.
Having arrived in France at the age of 18, the Algerian from a bourgeois background was more used to his young age being emphasised in professional contexts. “I never felt like my colleagues saw me as an Arab”, he said, tired of hearing them denounce “the leftists” and relay fake news. His strategy, whatever happens, like many young people interviewed: nod, lower your eyes, step back. “I’m finishing in a few weeks, I tell myself that it will pass. To unwind and make fun of it, I send every comment or little hateful thing to my family. My father always told me not to react to remarks. And it’s better not to talk politics at work.”
“Remain opaque”
This subject, perceived as taboo, has been well integrated by young executives through the coffee machine test. The new generation is opting for discretion in the office. Aware, in particular, of its status in the hierarchy. In the public as well as in the private sector. “It’s complicated because of my ‘juniority’, says Célestin, 26, who has been working for an investment fund for just two months. We need to talk about it to show our superiors that we understand the stakes associated with the elections in our sector: the impact on the world of finance has been brutal. At the same time, we must know how to remain opaque about our personal opinions, we cannot afford to disagree.
When the dissolution was announced on June 9, Célestin got involved for the first time by going to campaign for Renaissance, Emmanuel Macron’s party. “Ecoanxious”it is said of “center left” and only dares to communicate with the colleague with whom he shares his office. “He is my superior but he is 40 years old, he specifies. We had discussed the programs before the European elections and I understood that we were on the same side: that facilitates dialogue.” The rest of the time, in the canteen, politics seems a non-issue − “while it is anything but a non-subject! the young man gets annoyed. We bury our heads in the sand, we sweep it under the carpet. I’m starting to get a little tired of talking about summer vacations.”
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