With the new Omicron wave, Jean-Christophe Repon, President of the Confederation of Crafts and Small Building Enterprises (Capeb), alert on possible production delays because of the lack of manpower.
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“Contact cases and positive cases lead to a loss of manpower“, explained Friday, December 24 on franceinfo Jean-Christophe Repon, president of the Confederation of crafts and small construction companies (Capeb), and vice-president of the Union of local businesses (U2P), while cases of Covid-19 are on the increase. The Scientific Council has issued an alert : with Omicron, there are risks of disorganization of key sectors of our economy. Hospitals, supermarkets, schools, essential services that could quickly be disorganized.
franceinfo: What is the situation?
Jean-Christophe Repon: It was already tense before this new wave and we were already struggling to deliver all the activity. There, the contact cases and the positive cases mean that we lose manpower and it will become complicated to provide activity. We are at Capeb which has more than 58,000 members and we have an average of three employees per company. This means that as soon as we lose a companion, production stops by half.
Are there any impacts on the sites?
We find ourselves in the same situation as during the first confinement. We have a majority of businesses that have closed for a month, or even a month and a half. We advised our artisans to get vaccinated. If so, they’ll only have 10 days of containment, 17 if it’s Omicron, but it will still be too long to be able to provide activity. We advise our artisans to respect the rules in force, we have an activity guide that allows you to work safely with other artisans and individuals.
Can you hire temporary workers?
The tank is lean. The craft uses little temporary work, it is more on long-term jobs and on apprenticeship.
How do you see the start of 2022?
I am not optimistic, it seems quite complicated for the whole of France. In the entourage of the Confederation of Crafts and Small Building Enterprises, we are all contact or Covid. So we really have a major concern about contamination or loss of activity. We will be very vigilant.