Political instability deeply worries managers of very small businesses (SMEs), and eight out of ten bosses express anger or concern, according to a Fiducial study carried out by Ifop. According to this barometer 81, in fact, the first feeling described by businessmen regarding the current French political situation is concern, for 55% of them, followed by anger (25%). Only 14% express a positive feeling.
The feeling of anger is especially pronounced (4 out of 10 managers) in industry or construction. The study, among 1,013 managers of companies with 0 to 19 employees, was carried out from September 22 to October 10, just before the re-election of Sébastien Lecornu in Matignon.
In the face of uncertainty, business leaders anticipate concrete repercussions on their activity. Almost 67% plan to reduce their investments, a figure that rises to 84% in construction. More than half (56%) mention a hiring freeze or a reduction in staff, and 49% could lower their salary or stop paying it, especially in hospitality (64%) and personal services (63%).
Despite this difficult climate, VSEs are showing some resilience: 13% of managers hired or planned to do so in the third quarter, that is, 5 points more than in the previous quarter. This level, however, is still lower than that of the third quarter of 2024 (19%).
Almost a third of small business owners would vote for RN in the event of legislative elections
The level of pessimism of these small business owners about the general business climate is 83%, that is, 3 points more than in the second quarter. They are a little less pessimistic (54%) about their own activity. This atmosphere is felt at the political level: in the event of early legislative elections, 29% would vote for a candidate from the National Rally or the Union of Rights for the Republic (UDR), 3% for Reconquête, 3% for Debout la France and 16% for The Republicans.
Finally, the priorities that the leaders of the VSE expect from the government are health (38%), the reduction of public debt (35%) and purchasing power (35%).
Source: BFM TV
