Since the introduction of compulsory teleworking at the beginning of January, three to four days a week, restaurateurs have been in difficulty. Employees work from home and no longer go out for lunch with colleagues at the restaurant. Who says fewer employees, says fewer covers. A blow for the restaurateurs of Berry.
Loss of turnover
In Déols in the Indre, the restaurant l’Escale is reduced from 300 covers per day to less than 150. Since the implementation of telework, the clientele of workers no longer comes. “We have fewer customers at lunchtime and in the evening on weekdays, a lot of trips and business meetings are canceled. All catering is impacted by this measure, it’s catastrophic”, explains Dominique Thomas, owner of the establishment.
The impact is felt on the turnover. Since the beginning of January, it has fallen by 60%. Not to mention that this restaurateur also finds himself with too many employees for too few customers. “It’s already a massacre, despite that, the workforce of the Stopover is too large, there is not enough work for everyone”, he assures. The restaurant has 65 employees.
His case is far from isolated.. “There are not many customers left who move around. The city centers are empty, on the roads, there are few motorists, people no longer travel to come and eat at the restaurant”, regrets Sabine Ferrand, president of the Umih (Union of trades and industries of the hotel industry) Centre-Val de Loire.
With teleworking, restaurateurs in the region have lost 50 to 70% of their turnover. Eventually, they risk disappearing, warns Umih.
“We must uncap partial activity”
Umih asks the government to react quickly if he wants to avoid the bankruptcy of these companies. “We really need to remove the cap on partial activity in our businesses, until we find a completely correct activity”, claims Sabine Ferrand.