The crowd of Julyists throngs Old Nice and the Prom’. On the Quai des Etats-Unis, wedged between its two tourist hotspots in the fifth largest city in France, the Babel Babel restaurant will not benefit from the crowds this Tuesday. The blue shutters are closed. No table is set. It will remain closed. And Wednesday too. It’s not temporary. It will be like this all summer. And even beyond.
The measure dates from last winter, Kevin Lalanne and his co-manager had then chosen to lower the curtain two days a week “rather for a question of organization”. “At the same time, we opened a second establishment which required a lot of work,” he explains. It was not to last. But faced with recruitment difficulties, the temporary measure has become permanent. The opening schedule has adapted, as in many other restaurants on the Côte d’Azur, and throughout France.
“They just want to unlock rights”
Try to hire, in addition seasonal workers, to return to six or seven days of service? The bosses of Babel Babel have given up altogether. Much “too complicated”. “The restaurant world has changed a lot. For the best for employees who are much better protected. Before, there are large time amplitudes. Black. All that has changed, ”recalls Kevin Lalanne. And his observation is straightforward. “Today, people are no longer motivated at all. They no longer want to work, just unlock rights, slice the entrepreneur. When we interview them, they first check the working conditions before we can question them about their background. They no longer want to open or close. And even less have cuts. They don’t want to serve too many tables. Nor clean. It pisses them off. »
Very cash, the 38-year-old restaurateur, in the business since the age of 14, has in a way resigned himself: “Anyway, opening more days would mean having more employees and therefore more problems”. “And in particular the agenda to manage. An example. We tried out a super-qualified sommelier, she liked it. Except that she ended up telling us that she only had nine extras available until the end of August. It is not possible. Not to mention that some let us down overnight. At the slightest annoyance, he laments. And each time, we find ourselves with our beaks in the water. To have to do in addition to the balances of any account which make costs with our accountants. For now, the Babel Babel “runs even better” 5 days out of 7.
“We are missing two people in the dining room and three or four in the kitchen”
Next door, the Sixty-three (63) is open all week, without interruption. This restaurant, inaugurated on June 10, would it be spared? Actually not at all. “We are missing two people in the dining room and three or four in the kitchen. But I fill in the gaps. I’m here from morning to night. Without a day off, says director Mehdi Mauger. But that’s still not enough. We wanted to offer continuous catering and that is not possible in this configuration. He too bears witness to the precariousness of recruitment. “We have answers to our announcements, then no more news. Some are there one day and don’t come back the next,” he says. For the moment, the team in place provides service 7 days a week, but this establishment may also end up having to adapt.
Impossible to know at the moment T how many restaurants in Nice are affected by its closures made compulsory by the lack of staff. It comes and goes. “It moves very fast. Some have big problems and manage to solve them. Before being again in deficiency, ”explains Christophe Souques, the vice-president of the Union of trades and industries of the hotel industry (UMIH) Côte d’Azur Nice cafe owners restaurateurs. He himself is concerned. “In one of my establishments, Le Bateleur, on the Cours Saleya, I would like to open for lunch in addition to the evening. But that’s still not possible. Everywhere, we have to adapt. With shorter services or actually until closings. »
The needs for seasonal workers are exploding due to a deficit of permanent contracts
In the department, there would still be nearly 4,900 seasonal positions to fill, while the season, precisely, is already well underway. “These needs have increased, even more so on the Côte d’Azur, specifies the manager. In recent years, the region concentrated around 24% of French demands on this workforce. This year, it’s 38%. And if it climbs so much, it means that we are already in deficit of CDI. In the Alpes-Maritimes, 15,000 catering employees on long-term contracts are missing. Hence the need for even greater extras.
And the situation could still block more at the end of the season, warns Christophe Souques. “With the Rugby World Cup [du 8 septembre au 28 octobre, dans neuf villes de France], we are going to need longer seasonal workers. Except that it is often about students and that the students start their school year much earlier than before”. At the UMIH, eyes are turned abroad, beyond the borders of Europe, “since our neighbors have the same recruitment problems”, specifies the vice-president in the Alpes-Maritimes. The employers’ organization is thus pleading for it to be possible to sign contracts of 3 to 6 months with seasonal workers from other countries.