When the building goes, everything goes, goes the saying. And when things go wrong… To read the figures from the Banque de France, the construction sector is unquestionably the one that suffers the most from the economic situation. Because if the turnover of the sector increased by 1.8% in 2022 and plans to increase a further 5.6% in 2023, once inflation is taken into account, the evolution is ultimately negative. The result is an investment down 22.5% in 2022, and which should still experience a drop of 10% in 2023.
“Very big recruitment difficulties, that was the leitmotif of business leaders, raise with one voice the Banque de France and the CCI. And these difficulties will continue.” Recruitments thus fell by 1.6% in 2022, and while the trend should become positive again in 2023 with +1.6%, the number of recruitments will nevertheless remain insufficient to cover the needs of the sector.
With results generally lower than expected by business leaders in mid-2022, the sector is therefore looking gray. However, the vast majority of entrepreneurs in the sector still want to believe in it and believe that the profitability of their activity will be preserved despite the repetition of shocks. If the number of entrepreneurs counting on an increase in their activity remains stable (23% in 2022, 24% for 2023), they are now 59% to bet on stability, against 48% in 2022.
Many of them therefore have a positive view of the evolution of their order book and their cash flow, and still believe in the future of their company. The blackheads? The margins, which always cause great concern, and the age-old question of recruitment.
J-O.B.