More than 33,000 business leaders found themselves without work during the first six months of 2026, an increase of nearly 7% year-on-year, according to data from the GSC-Altares Observatory. Small businesses accounted for the majority of the losses, against a backdrop of persistent fragility in the French economy.
Managers of companies with fewer than three employees account for nearly 75% of recorded job losses. But larger companies are also affected: 694 managers of companies with at least 20 employees lost their jobs in the first half of the year. For those employing more than 50 people, losses have increased by nearly 52% year-on-year.
Construction remains the most affected sector
With 7,718 executives affected, construction leads the hardest-hit sectors, followed by retail, which saw 6,971 executive job losses, a 3,7% increase. The accommodation and food service sector also experienced a downturn, with 5,057 business owners affected, representing a 10,4% rise. In business services, losses increased by 15,2%, reaching 4,770 executives.
The difficulties also vary significantly across different regions. Hauts-de-France saw the strongest increase, at 11%, followed by Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, both at +9,6%. Île-de-France, for its part, accounts for nearly a quarter of the losses, with 7,860 business leaders affected, an increase of 5,8%.
According to Altares, the 33,000 job losses among executives also resulted in approximately 80,000 job cuts for salaried employees. The executives affected had held their positions for an average of nearly ten years, a tenure that reaches almost twenty years for those heading SMEs with more than 20 employees.
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