Politics | Macron in Marseille: we looked for 10 job offers in the Old Port. We found 13

2023-06-27 08:42:02

WhileEmmanuel Macron is in Marseilles for three days, the President of the Republic is controversial with a new reply on work in France. “I’m going around the Old Port with you, I’m sure there are 10 job offers”he replied to a mother from the city of Campanules (11th) who despairs of seeing her 33-year-old son unemployed. “We go down together, we go around the port, I would be surprised if there is not a restaurant or a café that does not seek”, continued the Head of State. A formula that is reminiscent of his now famous “cross the street” to find a job. This time, we took the President at face value.

But then what about it?

On condition of anonymity, Provence actually went to the Old Port of Marseille on Monday evening. And while the terraces of bars and restaurants are not yet crowded with the arrival of tourists, the heads of establishments are still preparing for the summer season.

By going to meet the majority of the managers of the Old Port, we have to recognize that the demand for labor is indeed there. In less than an hour and a half, 13 job offers are to be counted.

For the most part, 35-hour employment contracts at the hotel minimum wage, or 1,966 euros gross per month, are available for the summer season. Professional experiences that could be extended if the summer goes well. “We are looking for people all the time”assures us of a boss, while mechanically cleaning a glass.

“We will teach you”

However, some require experience in the trade to be able to start at home. “It’s not worth leaving your CV if you’ve never been a waitress”, answers one of the restorers of the Old Port, visibly busy, after having told him that he has never worked in the restoration. But this is far from being the case for everyone.

“No worries. We’ll teach you. Anyway, we need manpower”replies the manager of an Italian restaurant, with a big smile.

Still others do not even ask for a CV and wish to see the employee directly at work, for a trial day. The appointment is directly given for this Saturday, at 10 am. “We’ll talk about the details of the contract if you really come on Saturday…”, declares the head of this establishment, apparently accustomed to false leaps. No question on level of education was asked by any of the restaurant owners interviewed.

But it must be recognized that it is not only professional skills that are assessed in seconds by some employers. “You have the profile, I’ll call you tomorrow”, (young, and looks good, editor’s note) responds tit for tat the manager of a restaurant when no exchange has been made about professional experience…

However, this important need for labor in the restoration must be, undeniably, related to the hardness of the trade. A reality that the bosses do not hesitate to share from the first exchanges: “Of course we are looking for people for the long term. But it’s so hard, especially in the summer, that most of them run away before they’ve even finished the season. Here, we are far from 35 hours but the more you work, the more you earn”declares a sexagenarian at the head of a bar.

The Covid crisis has, in fact, highlighted the difficult working conditions of the hotel and catering trades such as having to work weekends, having breaks in long working days, not to mention physical fatigue. On the Old Port, most restaurateurs seem to have adapted, offering future employees to work on weekends but without having cuts. Or the opposite.

The pay scale for hotel and restaurant workers has also increased in recent years, but apparently not enough to attract enough new hires.