No time to lose for Thierry Marx. Barely a month after his election as head of the Union of Hotel Trades and Industries (Umih), the starred chef called on the government to include the hotel and catering industry in the list of “jobs in tension” , in order to facilitate the recruitment of foreign personnel. The immigration bill, supposed to land in 2023 and subject to a first debate (without a vote) this Tuesday in the Assembly, provides for the creation of a specific residence permit for foreign employees in these professions in lack of workforce.
Because with the end of the health crisis, which has turned the relationship and place of work upside down, many professions are encountering recruitment difficulties. At issue: wages deemed insufficient and sometimes difficult working conditions – staggered hours, heavy physical load… However, for the moment, neither the hotel industry nor the catering industry are part of this list of “jobs in tension” given by the government, while Thierry Marx figures the number of vacancies in each of the two professions at 200,000.
decrease in pressure
“Employers in certain sectors recognize that they work with a large workforce of foreign origin, for whom it is sometimes difficult to obtain residence permits or to regularize them”, indicates Christine Erhel, economist and labor market specialist work. Difficult to have precise figures given the illegal nature of the thing. This is what Thierry Marx mentions in his appeal to the government, asking for “a rapid regularization of our foreign employees recognized for their skills and who find themselves immersed in illegality overnight”.
Currently, between 6,000 and 8,000 people are regularized each year in France through work, informs Jean-Christophe Dumont, head of the international migration division within the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The law that is being presented, which would make it possible to boost this total thanks to lighter criteria, would be “a fairly logical path insofar as these are people who are already working or are ready to do so, already on French territory and competent by compared to expectations, and often with experience,” says Christine Erhel. Similar observation with Thomas Coutrot, economist specializing in employment: “Such a law could make it possible to reduce a little the pressure on these sectors, which are vital to the economy. »
No miracle without solving structural problems
You will have understood it from the vocabulary used, “it is not a question of a miracle solution which will erase all the difficulties of recruitment”, nuance Christine Erhel. For the specialist, the residence permit alone will not be enough to make these professions attractive and thus avoid the debate on working conditions and remuneration.
In any case, the regularization mentioned in the bill should only concern foreigners already present on the territory and only under certain very specific conditions. Said more clearly by Jean-Christophe Dumont: “Certainly, thousands of workers could be regularized, but in no case a sufficient number to settle the labor shortage. To do this, we must tackle structural problems”. So back to wages and working conditions.
And what to answer to the criticisms evoking a hypothetical “drawing of air” that these regularizations would create? According to Thomas Coutrot, all economic studies show that immigrant workers have no negative influence on the level of employment of employees who are already residents. Anne Eydoux, lecturer in economics at the National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts (Cnam), is also very clear: “Regularizing undocumented migrants will have no negative consequences on employment, wages, working conditions, contrary to their exploitation. Nor will they prevent the conduct of a policy of salary increase or improvement of conditions. »
Christine Erhel recalls that regularized employees will have bargaining power that they would never have had by remaining undocumented. They will therefore be able to bring claims themselves. Last point for Thomas Coutrot: legalizing these workers forces companies to pay them at least social minimums. No miracle solution then, but no dumbing down either. Anne Eydoux reminds us: “Sectors under pressure must become or become attractive again for all workers”.