“If the individual works, he will find his right place in society,” assures Saïd Hammouche, of Mosaïque RH

The Constitutional Council largely censored the immigration bill on Thursday. Saïd Hammouche, founder of Mosaïque RH, a recruitment firm specializing in diversity and equal opportunities, shares his reaction in “L’hôte de l’éco”.

After examining 49 of the 86 articles of the immigration bill, the Constitutional Council largely censored the text, in a decision rendered Thursday, January 25. In particular, he censured the tightening of access to social benefits, family reunification, or even the establishment of a “return deposit” for foreign students. The Council considers that, for 32 articles, these measures had no place within the scope of the bill.

franceinfo: Saïd Hammouche, you are the founder of Mosaïque RH, a recruitment firm specializing in diversity and equal opportunities. More than a third of the articles in the immigration bill were censored, for having nothing to do with this text, according to the Constitutional Council. What is your first reaction?

Said Hammouche: It is a legal text that has been commented on and debated for many months. We have moved a long way from the real facts. The domination of subjectivity was massive in this debate. I think we need to come back to things that are much more factual, much more rational. We see that today, in France, the question of immigration is strategic from an economic point of view and if we don’t look at that, we will please some, but we are heading towards economic catastrophe from an economic point of view. French and that is important to have in mind.

The tightening of access for foreigners to social benefits was also censored.

Yes. We must realize that there are many immigrant workers who work, who have a pay slip at the end of the month, who contribute and who actually contribute to the social protection system. Do you know how much that brings in to the state today? This is more than 1.3% of French GDP. So we actually have workers who are not recognized, apart from when they contribute. Behind their remuneration, they do not benefit from these social contributions. It is a system that works today, that works, and that France needs. We need immigrant workers to be able to run our businesses. If we take the industrial sector, there are between 100,000 and 200,000 skills needs. If we don’t find them, once again, it will be an economic tragedy.

The articles on professions in shortage have been retained in the text. On the social network X, the former Minister of Labor, Olivier Dussopt, welcomes the validation of the articles concerning integration through work. Are you also happy about it?

I think that’s a topic. Obviously, today we need to implement a certain number of measures to be able to support these populations which France, once again, needs.

Undocumented workers in shortage occupations such as catering or construction will no longer have to go through their employer to apply for a residence permit. This will be at the discretion of the prefects. Is this enough?

What restaurateurs ultimately expect is to find skills to be able to run restaurants. You know, if we don’t have enough manpower today to be able to manage the kitchens, provide service, deal with all the problems of a restaurant, the restaurant will close. There will no longer be enough services, we will no longer be able to have our children looked after…

As the head of a recruitment firm, do you realize that there is a huge shortage of competent people in these professions?

It has escaped no one’s notice that we are facing tensions, because quite simply we are changing: digital change, ecological transition… These are new professions for which we will have to train and find skills. We have to support that. Today, France Travail is good news for thinking about new dynamics, which can bring together supply and demand and allow employees, particularly undocumented immigrants, to be better connected with the economic world. . If the individual works, I can tell you that he will find his good place in society. He will be recognized. We will first recognize him as someone who offers a useful service on a daily basis.

Last April, with other people, you called for the establishment of a citizens’ convention on immigration, as there was one on the climate or on the end of life. We are almost a year after all the debates we have just talked about. In your opinion, today, can we have a peaceful debate on immigration in France?

It is precisely the will. Today I have the chance to sit on the Economic and Social Council. It is a space for reflection, for discussion, where we can carry out in-depth analyses. For example, recently, we realized that today, in the city’s political districts [QPV, des quartiers prioritaires au titre de la politique de la ville], we still have a deep unemployment problem. The employment rate in the city’s political districts is 20 points lower than the national average. These are statistical elements that are not often reported. For example, we hear that unemployment fell by 0.4%, which is good news. On the other hand, youth unemployment continues to pose a problem and unemployment in the neighborhoods has not changed one iota. So we always have explosive figures. And the solution exists. We must listen to these sectors of activity, these recruiters who need to find the skills. We need to put in place methods that make it possible to bring together supply and demand, control these cognitive biases, and be a little more socially open. If we are a little less in the stereotype linked to immigrant populations, we are progressing and we are doing good, once again, for the economy.