Year after year, this figure continues to increase. Unemployment no longer spares business owners. Since the beginning of 2024, nearly 30,000 of them have lost their jobs. An increase of 18.4% over one year, according to a study by the GSC Entrepreneur Employment Observatory and the Altares firm. In 2023, 57,729 business failures were recorded, an increase of 35.8% compared to 2022. The pandemic parenthesis, which had seen new job losses compensated by GSC fall thanks to state aid, is well and truly over, observes the economic daily The Echoes.
Despite the “desire to undertake” that has reigned in France for twenty years, “around four companies out of ten will not celebrate their fifth birthday”, notes in the press release published on Sunday, Thierry Millon, director of Altares studies, evoking “the trauma” suffered by these bosses, in particular “the third, aged over 50 who will find it more difficult to envisage their recovery”.
Managers of small structures most affected
According to the annual study by the Observatory of Entrepreneurs’ Employment, managers of structures with fewer than five employees account for nearly nine out of ten job losses. The number of managers of companies with 6 to 9 employees affected is up 40.2%, while that of SME bosses with 10 to 19 employees is up 31.1%. These companies suffer from “insufficient financial structures that weaken them”, notes the study. In addition, managers of structures with a turnover of less than 500,000 euros represent 76.5% of those affected.
A deterioration in the situation directly correlated with the surge in business failures identified by administrators and receivers. Between January and June, the overall number of defaults increased by 18% compared to the first half of 2023. It is around 33,500, or, on average, 20% more than in 2018 and 2019 before the Covid-19 pandemic. According to its projections, the BPCE observatory estimates that there will be 65,000 failures by the end of the year and 260,000 jobs at risk.
Construction and trade sectors overrepresented
The real estate crisis is affecting all construction professionals: 7,669 business leaders lost their jobs in the first half of the year, an increase of 34.2% compared to the same period last year. The trade sector lost 6,456 managers (+15%), the transport and logistics sector 1,296 (+30.5%), and the business services sector 3,716 (+18.2%).
Job losses are numerous in accommodation, catering, and drinks. They concern 3,734 business leaders, but with a lower increase compared to 2023 (+7.6%). “Our creators of jobs and wealth are abandoned as soon as their ship capsizes,” regrets Anthony Streicher, president of the GSC association, to AFP.
In The Echoeshe estimated that “for the person who will be appointed Prime Minister in a few days, the fight against the loss of jobs of business leaders must be a priority subject! More than 180 entrepreneurs have lost their jobs every day since the beginning of the year.”