2023-09-14 05:57:35
Jean-Luc Boujon (in Lyon) / Photo credits: PASCAL GUYOT / AFP
“When the building goes, everything goes” is the usual saying. But conversely, we can worry when the construction sector starts to slow down. And this is unfortunately the case today. The French Building Federation announced on Wednesday gloomy prospects for the sector in the coming months with a possible loss of 150,000 jobs by 2025. Europe 1 visited a masonry company in Lyon.
“The year is likely to be very complicated”
Created 60 years ago, the Fontanel group and its 300 employees is one of the large masonry companies in the Lyon region. The company has already gone through several crises but this time, the outlook is very worrying, believes Norbert Fontanel, its president. “When I see developers who lay off people, architects who lay off people, design offices who lay off people… They no longer release projects. That means that there is less work upstream, so it’s work than we will do in 2024. The year risks being very complicated,” he says.
“A company like ours has to open two projects per month so, basically, we need to have 12-15 in front of us to have peace of mind. Today, we only have seven or eight. worry,” he adds.
The Fontanel group is trying to relocate
The cause is the new housing crisis. Households are finding it increasingly difficult to buy, strangled by rising interest rates or the end of the Pinel system. The entire construction sector is weakening and fears about employment are being felt. “It is clear that we will employ fewer temporary workers. And we will also use our subcontractors less since we will not have the work. So, yes, there may be damage,” continues Norbert Fontanel.
It is to avoid this that the Fontanel group, which until then concentrated its activities on Lyon and its region, is now applying for projects further afield, in Roanne or Clermont-Ferrand.
1694694771
#effect #housing #crisis #construction #industry #fears #job #losses