Nearly 400 social plans since September 2023, according to a new count from the CGT

"There is an urgent need to act": 381 redundancy plans have been identified in various sectors of the economy, such as industry and commerce, between September 2023 and May 2025, according to a new tally presented on Tuesday, May 27, by the leader of the CGT, Sophie Binet.

In total, between 157.903 and 244.655 jobs, direct or indirect, have been cut or threatened since 2023, according to the latest field survey conducted by the second largest trade union, which had counted nearly 250 layoff plans in progress at the end of November.

"The employers and the government are clearly and systematically choosing unemployment," Sophie Binet lamented during a press conference.

"Behind these figures, it's always the same story. It's devastated territories, broken families, and the loss of key skills for our country," she recalled.

The metallurgy, automotive, chemical and trade industries are particularly affected.

"We are experiencing deindustrialization organized by employers and successive governments," said Frédéric Sanchez, general secretary of the CGT metalworkers' federation.

For several months, the CGT (General Confederation of Labour) has been calling for a "moratorium on layoffs," "the obligation to genuinely seek buyers," and "conditioning public aid on the approval of the CSE (Workers' Committee) so that employees can block companies that are gorging themselves on public aid while laying off workers," Sophie Binet pointed out.

"We are asking that a company receiving public aid be prohibited from implementing redundancy plans in the years following the allocation of these funds," added Elodie Ferrier, federal secretary of the CGT trade and services federation.

An emblem of an industry hit hard: ArcelorMittal, which recently announced the elimination of 600 jobs in France.

Questioned by the leader of the CGT union in mid-May on TF1, the President of the Republic dismissed the idea of "nationalizing ArcelorMittal," as demanded by unions, employees, and the left.