A significant increase in salaries negotiated between the end of 2020 and the beginning of 2023, in a context of high inflation. In a note published this Wednesday, April 26, the Banque de France delivers positive conclusions on the economic situation of employees, after analyzing thousands of branch and company agreements in France. “In the branches, the increases were supported by those of the minimum wage in 2022. In companies, the increases negotiated for 2023 are on average 4.4% (compared to 2.8% in 2022 and 1.4% in 2021) , to which will often be added a bonus for sharing the value”, reports the institution, while specifying that “these results do not reveal a runaway price-wage spiral”.
In detail, disparities exist between the different sectors, “much stronger” than in 2022 or 2021. Thus, wage increases are on average higher in industry or construction than in services (respectively by + 0.4 and + 1 percentage point on average). Within each of these branches, heterogeneity is also observed. Wage increases are particularly pronounced in transportation services, computer and electrical equipment manufacturing, where they average 5%. On the other hand, in the trade and real estate sectors, the increases are slightly below 4% on average.
Different increases depending on the size of the companies
The report also distinguishes between company size. According to the Banque de France, wage increases are more marked in very large companies in 2022 and 2023: all other things being equal, they are higher by 0.3 percentage point in companies with more than 1,000 employees. Regarding smaller companies, a barometer published on the same day of Perspectives Circlewhich brings together 19 accounting firms, also noted an average increase of 5.49% in salaries for SMEs and VSEs between December 2021 and January 2023, i.e. more than inflation (5.2% in 2022).
In order to remain attractive in the face of recruitment difficulties and support the purchasing power of their employees, “the bosses of VSEs / SMEs have overwhelmingly chosen to trim their margins”, explains to AFP Antoine de Riedmatten, president of the Cercle Outlook. The average increase in non-executive salaries, ie 5.67%, was higher than that of executives, at 4.40%, thanks in particular to increases in the minimum wage. Wage increases also vary by sector: they were strongest in those having the most difficulty in recruiting, for example transport (7.17%) and hotels and restaurants (6.35%). At the back of the pack are education (4.89%) and real estate activities (4.65%).
In her speech intended to give the roadmap for the “hundred days of action” of the President of the Republic, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne promised this Wednesday to obtain “a fairer distribution of the wealth produced by companies”, and called on companies “to act collectively to raise wages”. On this subject, Emmanuel Macron had mentioned to him a text of law transposing “very quickly” the national interprofessional agreement on the “sharing of value” in business, concluded between the employers’ organizations and trade unions.