160 hectares, 60 companies, 180,000 employees.
La Défense has not stolen its title as the largest business district in Europe.
However, on the usually crowded forecourt, there was no crowd this Friday, the day before reconfinement.
In La Défense, perhaps even more than elsewhere, teleworking has become the norm for a year.
And the new measures announced by the government this Thursday will only accentuate the process according to several employees questioned on the spot.
“This is the first time that I've come back for a year,” Benjamin admits straight away.
His company, whose name he does not wish to divulge, is located in the Franklin Tower.
For him, teleworking has become the rule and the new government measures will not change much.
He is not the only one.
"I had never seen La Défense like this"
According to figures from the public establishment Paris-La Défense, attendance at the square in recent months has hovered around 30 to 40%.
A decrease compared to the months of September and October: when the summer holidays returned, attendance had risen to around 60%.
“There have been a lot fewer people since the first confinement, but I had never seen La Défense like that, it's very strange,” exclaims Rose-Marie.
Employee of a company located on the forecourt, she only benefits from two days of teleworking per week.
"On the other hand, we must recognize that it is much more comfortable, especially in transport which has become less congested," she admits.
For Audrey and Vanessa, who do not have any facilities of this type because they have to meet clients on site, the same observation is made: "The towers have emptied."
Crowded at lunchtime, but not enough for shops
If, this Friday, the square is indeed more empty than a year ago, despite the sun and the relatively mild temperature, Adrien Teurlais, blogger and connoisseur of the district, believes that "there are still people, The Defense is not that calm ”.
According to him, the business district was indeed “radically emptied at the first confinement.
But today, you only have to look at the lines of people waiting in front of food trucks at lunchtime to understand that life has started to pick up a bit.
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However, businesses are suffering.
Some to the point of moving.
For Hirem Dahmouche, for example, owner of a coffee truck established from Monday to Friday on the forecourt for four years, the report is bitter.
“We operate mainly thanks to customers passing through the square.
So, with teleworking, we have lost 60% to 70% of our business, ”he regrets.
After the announcements of this Thursday, the thirty-something has also decided to pack up.
"By force of circumstances, we were starting to get used to this situation, but tomorrow, we will no longer be there.
We will focus on other areas that will be more frequented, ”he explains.
"We are at -90% of turnover"
Hirem Dahmouche's trade mobility is an advantage that not all traders benefit from.
For Hakima D, who has worked for nine years in a store in the gallery of the Les Quatre Temps shopping center, “the situation is truly catastrophic.
Today, we are at almost -90% of our usual turnover, she laments.
There was never a return to normal, even between the first two confinements.
We had only recovered to -50%. ”
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Main difficulty for his shop: working with works councils.
“It no longer needs to be,” she explains.
Some employees have never returned for a year.
And I regularly receive emails from customers telling me that they were forced to change stores because they no longer came to the site. ”