The decline in salary scales due to repeated recent increases in the minimum wage affects 34% of SMEs/VSEs, half of whom believe that this slows down their growth, according to a study published Tuesday by Bpifrance Le Lab and Rexecode.
The minimum wage has been increased multiple times since 2022, due to inflation not seen in twenty years, initially linked to the war in Ukraine.
Not all companies were able to pass these increases on to salaries located close to the minimum wage, creating a flattening of salaries.
According to the study, 49% say they are concerned by this reduction: for 34%, this still concerns some or most of their employees, 15% having already carried out an immediate revaluation.
More than two thirds of managers of VSEs/SMEs paying employees close to the SMIC declare having restricted their salary increases, or having felt limited in these increases.
The two main reasons given (by 54% of them) are the lack of financial margin and the loss of reductions in employer contributions, since those provided for at the minimum wage level decrease with the increase in salary.
In total, 34% of the bosses questioned describe situations of
“low-wage traps”
, and 54% of them, that is to say 17% of respondents, affirm that this situation creates a brake on the growth of their business, minor (21%), moderate (19%) or important (15%).
“This result is not negligible
,” underlines Philippe Mutricy, Director of Studies at Bpifrance.
This quarterly barometer also shows a slight improvement in the cash flow situations of SMEs/SMEs, customer payment deadlines which are reduced slightly, as well as difficulties in accessing credit.
Read alsoThe minimum wage will be increased by 1.13% on January 1, 2024
On the other hand, investment is expected to slow down significantly this year: 51% of managers plan to invest (-1 point over the quarter), and the balance of opinion on the amounts invested falls by 7 points.
The degraded demand outlook now concerns 45% of managers (+2 points over the quarter and +8 over one year), almost matching concerns about recruitment (47% but down six points).
“The scenario that prevails today, despite the current slowdown, is that of a rebound during the year, in particular thanks to the phenomenon of disinflation which has taken hold in recent months
,” summarizes Philippe Mutricy.
The study was carried out using 1,016 responses from business leaders received from February 5 to 14.