To save jobs, boost our businesses

“Faced with the brutal crisis we are experiencing, our social system is a precious short-term shock absorber. But he anesthetizes the actors, who struggle to make a lucid diagnosis: the risk of mass unemployment with dramatic consequences is extreme. Based on a few simple observations, I would like to share four realistic proposals in the service of a single objective: employment.

Businesses are in danger, not consumers . Many SMEs / ETIs are threatened with disappearance; entrepreneurs, who see the fruits of years of work evaporating, are the real losers of the crisis. Conversely, consumers have mainly maintained their income during the health crisis and will be able to draw on their savings, confidence returned. If support measures are necessary for the most affected sectors such as tourism or the automobile, the heart of the effort must be focused on supporting supply rather than demand.

Businesses are in danger, not consumers. Many SMEs / ETIs are threatened with disappearance; entrepreneurs are the real losers in the crisis

The battle for liquidity is won . The effect of the crisis on corporate treasury could have resulted in generalized bankruptcies as in 1929. Thanks to the very rapid establishment of the EMP, under the impetus of the government and with the support of the BPI and the banks, this dark scenario was avoided.

The state cannot do everything. Today, the demand for assistance comes from everywhere. We can see the dream of an omnipresent State reappear, even though the health crisis has shown the weakness of a centralizing public sector. It is the owners of SMEs and mid-caps who hold the key to recovery, to adapt, to innovate, and to grow in a world that is moving very fast. Alongside them, the crisis has reinforced the role of private equity in strengthening their equity and actively supporting their transformation.

The debt will have to be repaid . With the massive injection of money by the government, the fantasy of a bottomless well justifying all the expenses resurfaces. Should we not state more clearly that only virtuous growth (and therefore the efficiency of each euro invested by the State) will make it possible to gradually reduce the debt?

To save jobs, we must first restore the operating accounts and reduce the social charges paid by companies, twice as high in France as in Germany

Proposal 1: halve corporate payroll taxes

To save jobs, we must first restore the operating accounts and reduce the social charges paid by companies, twice as high in France as in Germany. This drop, applied to all wages, would help protect existing jobs and encourage new jobs in growing societies. It would be partly financed by the savings induced on unemployment thus avoided and by job creation in sectors where services are reduced because they are too expensive, such as distribution.

Proposal 2: facilitate the reimbursement of EMPs by SMEs thanks to a tax credit based on the remuneration of employees

The EMP, a judicious response to the emergency, is also a time bomb for SMEs. This additional debt will limit investment and job creation and will not prevent serious financial difficulties.

The State could help SMEs and mid-caps by granting them a tax credit for a few years, based on the amount of wages paid, allowing the average to erase the EMP in five years. For companies that have benefited from a EMP, this tax credit would be deducted as a priority from the reimbursement of it, while for the others, it could be deducted from corporate tax.

Young people entering the job market in times of crisis are facing even greater difficulties. Despite reforms, the current DWI system remains archaic, opaque and costly

Proposal 3: promote learning in business

Young people entering the job market in times of crisis are facing even greater difficulties. Despite the reforms, the current CFA system remains archaic, opaque and costly. It could be replaced at a lower cost by a model where companies would be the central players in the training of apprentices, with the objective of doubling the workforce, in industry as well as in services where many professional training courses are attractive to young people.

Proposal 4: remove the obstacles to employee share ownership

Associating the company's employees with its capital is an essential issue for dealing with the crisis and sharing the fruits of success once it is overcome. Today, legal and tax rules are complex and unattractive. Free shares are subject to costly social security contributions as soon as they are issued. This rule, adapted to limit possible drifts in large listed groups, does not make sense for SMEs wishing to associate a large number of employees with their capital. Making our employees real intrapreneurs is an effective lever to find the path to growth!

The issue of recovery is crucial to avoid a spike in unemployment, which would only accelerate deficits and reinforce social difficulties. It is by promoting supply and supporting businesses that employment will be protected and developed and that we will not bequeath our debt to future generations.