Choose France: the meeting of big bosses in Versailles in a parallel universe

Since 2018, the ritual has remained unchanged. Every time the Élysée Palace invites the big bosses of global capitalism to the Palace of Versailles for its grand Choose France gathering , the shoe polish is brought out to present the French economy in its best light. But shoe polish is more complicated to apply when you run out of it.

On Friday, May 16, the Ministry of Labor welcomed the unemployment figures for the first quarter of 2025. While it was difficult for the Ministry to rejoice in the new but slight increase in the number of unemployed (64,000 more people for a total of 2.4 million unemployed), the employment rate of workers did, however, please it. 69.5% of 15-64 year-olds are now in employment (+0.6% over one year) thanks to the increase in the retirement age from 62 to 64 , which automatically increases the number of 55-64 year-olds in work (61.5%).

The fact remains that the OFCE (French Economic Outlook Observatory), in unison with all the forecasters in Paris, predicts "a rise in the unemployment rate to 7.9% by the end of the year and to 8.5% by the end of 2026; and nearly 200,000 job losses over these two years." Sophie Binet, general secretary of the CGT , which already had 300 social plans by the end of 2024, also notes on the ground an "acceleration" of "current redundancy plans" and denounces a government "in denial" and which "refuses to act."

Indeed, the bad news came thick and fast last week. In Le Havre, the closure of one of the two furnaces at the high-end glassworks Saverglass could cost 139 of its 480 jobs. Two days earlier, Atos's new management announced a strategic repositioning, with a thousand jobs in "support functions" on the floor. The same day, the British bank HSBC planned to cut 348 jobs, or more than 10% of its workforce in France...

The CAC 40 multinationals are no more reliable, despite the approximately 200 billion in public money paid annually through 2,200 schemes identified by the Senate commission of inquiry into the use of public aid to large companies and their subcontractors.

In addition to the "industrial and social disengagement from the pharmaceutical sector in Europe" denounced by Sanofi unions after the announcement of the direction of 20 billion dollars of investments in the United States by 2030, there were the true-false assurances of ArcelorMittal to release the 1.5 billion euros necessary for the greening of its blast furnaces in Dunkirk. At least if, and only if, Europe accelerates its measures to protect the steel market. As for the CEO of Valeo, interviewed on France Inter on Saturday, he gave no guarantees on employment in France, even after the closure of two factories in the first half of the year .

For the research firm Asterès, it's time to grimace since three economic engines are broken: "Household consumption stagnated in the first quarter of 2025, investment contracted by -0.2% (the decline was sharper for households, at -0.3%, a sign of persistent difficulties in the real estate market) and foreign trade contributed negatively to growth by -0.4 points due to an increase in imports while exports fell sharply." Only the positive change in company inventories saved the French economy from suffering a setback in the first quarter. Ultimately, it's only in Versailles that two hundred big bosses will be able to feast this Monday.