Inflation: more wage increases to be expected, according to the president of Medef

“I think wages will increase in large companies, not very far from inflation, and in small ones perhaps a little below”said the spokesperson for employers during the “Grand Rendez-vous” Europe 1 / Cnews / Les Echos, when the mandatory annual negotiations are in full swing.

Responding to the question of whether some companies were not going to be forced to go further in wage increases in the light of persistent inflationhe believed that this would be the case for “some”, especially because they have “difficult to recruit”.

In the private sector, he finds “non-confrontational but real tensions” on salaries in a context of loss of purchasing power due to inflation which, according to him, “also explains part of the demonstrations” against the background of the pension reform project in France.

“We are experiencing the inversion of the curve” in the labor market, where the balance of power changes in favor of employees, but “not in all professions or all geographies”he explained.

Nevertheless, “there are professions that are not paid enough because the margins of companies are insufficient”notes the official who was skeptical about the easing of inflation.

Consumer price inflation in France stood at 6% year-on-year in Januaryfueled by the rise in energy and food prices which penalizes purchasing power, according to the National Institute of Statistics (Insee).