At the 26th Forum des entrepreneurs des Bouches-du-Rhône, a heavy atmosphere of economic gloom was felt as business leaders confront a 50 to 60 percent drop in credit applications.
Investment Stagnation and Banking Realities
The gathering of entrepreneurs opened against a backdrop of hesitation. Investment is retreating, critical regional infrastructure projects like the THT power line remain in limbo, and executives are finding it increasingly difficult to plan ahead.
According to Jean-Christophe Amarantinis, president of the UPE 13, local banking channels offer a stark window into this hesitation. Credit deposit files have fallen by 50 to 60 percent, signaling that companies have stopped borrowing because they lack faith in the future.
Amarantinis warned that incoming social security financing legislation could drive labor costs up by 5 to 6 percent. He described the current economic climate as a deeply anxiogenic vise grip.
Rethinking Leadership and Corporate Culture
The forum turned toward shifting management paradigms. A debate titled Gouverner autrement
brought together representatives from CMA CGM, Onet, and Caisse d’Épargne CEPAC to examine whether corporate practices are evolving fast enough to match societal changes.
David Schajer, Executive Vice-President Group Human Resources at CMA CGM, pointed to a persistent imbalance in corporate hierarchies. While nearly 40 percent of the workforce is female and spans numerous nationalities, that diversity tends to thin out at top decision-making levels, creating a risk of having the same type of people deciding on critical subjects.
Émilie de Lombarès, présidente du directoire of Onet, shared findings from an internal survey examining employee obstacles. The research revealed that personal and familial hurdles—particularly the situations of single mothers—frequently block career progression in ways the executive team had not previously anticipated.
Challenging Childhood Stereotypes in Education
Christine Fabresse, présidente du directoire of the Caisse d’Épargne CEPAC, raised female representation on her executive committee from 28 to 40 percent over four years.
Fabresse argued that intervention must start much earlier, suggesting quotas in schools to redirect girls toward technical fields like engineering. She rejected the notion that girls possess any innate disadvantage in mathematics, pointing instead to early childhood conditioning that steers them away from technical disciplines.
