As France celebrates Labor Day on May 1, we focus on this figure: 17% of employees are on minimum wage. Three years ago, they were only 12%.
:quality(50)/2023/07/07/64a7df4c5fe71_placeholder-36b69ec8.png)
Published
Reading time: 6 min
:quality(50)/2024/05/01/maxnewsspecial509483-663204f1e6175410982982.jpg)
Jean-Marc Barki, French foreign trade advisor, and member of Croissance Plus, created Stikoïa, 28 years ago, an industrial glue company in Hauts-de-France. He states that, in his business, “the minimum wage has never been a basis for reflection. At the beginning, we had nothing. We took from our margins”he says.
At Stikoia, “there are no minimum wage employees”assures Jean-Marc Barki who recognizes that it is “a particularity” while 17% of French employees are currently paid the minimum growth wage. But “the minimum wage for us is not an answer, explains the business manager. The criterion is that people can live well, that they are detached and free from their material concerns, to be able to be the most efficient in the company.
A national minimum wage is “an absurdity”, a salary is calculated in relation to housing
However, he admits that salary renegotiations with joint organizations which constantly increase the minimum wage worry him. “If we had gaps of 20 to 30% at the time, we were at 1.5-1.6 times the minimum wage, now we are only at 1.3he notes. Soon we will be at zero and we will no longer be able to do it. For what ? For a simple reason: there are charges on salaries, and at some point, we will no longer be able to be competitive.”
A decent salary, according to Jean-Marc Barki, is calculated “in relation to housing. That’s the key.” Consequently, for him, the national minimum wage is “an absurdity”. “Let’s leave entrepreneurs free from the salaries they pay to their employees by reducing social charges in a real way. We don’t operate like the State. The State, if it wants to hire 100,000 more people, he sets the deficit system in motion.”
Jean-Marc Barki is also opposed to reductions in charges on low wages. “If we reduce costs, we must do so across all salaries. This creates a trap for low salaries and prevents us from hiring Bac+4, Bac+5, Bac+6”deplores the boss while Stikoïa is a company that does research and development. “The people we need are mostly caped people.”