More and more French people are expressing the feeling of no longer being able to live decently on their current salary. In this context of insufficient remuneration, companies have a role to play. This opinion is shared by Florent Menegaux, the president of the Michelin group since 2019. On April 17, 2024, he spoke in the columns of Le Parisien.
Beyond salary, the Michelin group aims to establish optimal working conditions for its employees. “The objective is to have people who are totally committed to what they do and therefore have a salary level which allows them to have the mental comfort of being able to project themselves into the company’s project “, Florent Menegaux explained on Thursday April 18 on Franceinfo.
According to the businessman: “when you are in survival, you do not care about others or environmental issues, you are reduced to animal instinct,” he declares in Le Parisien.
In the columns of our colleagues, the CEO of the Michelin group declares that before acting, he asked himself the following question: “have we correctly remunerated our 130,000 employees?” In order to answer it, he questions what a “decent salary” should allow, arriving at the following conclusion: “a decent salary must allow a family of four people, two adults and two children, to feed themselves , but also to find accommodation, to take care of oneself, to ensure the children’s studies, to build up precautionary savings, to consider leisure activities and vacations.”
To the crucial question of whether the minimum wage in France is sufficient, the CEO’s response is categorical: “No. For example, at Michelin, we believe that a decent salary should be twice as high as the minimum wage in Paris, and 20% higher than the minimum wage in Clermont-Ferrand, where the company’s head office is located. At Michelin in France, the median salary for the lowest paid categories exceeds the minimum wage by 49%. he in the daily life of Ile-de-France.
This situation rekindles the debate on the minimum wage and what constitutes a “decent wage”. How much does a “decent wage” amount to according to the French?
According to a study conducted by the Drees (Directorate of Research, Studies, Evaluation and Statistics) relayed by Au Féminin, the following question was asked to the French: “In your opinion, in order to live, what is the minimum amount that an individual must have per month (in euros)?”
The answer given is: “1983 euros per month”. For the period from 2018 to 2021, the figure was rather around 1750 euros per month. So this has increased significantly.
As a reminder, the minimum wage has been set at around 1,400 euros net monthly since January 1, 2024. An increase of 42% would therefore be required to achieve this “decent salary”. And the latter evolves depending on the region.
According to the answers obtained by Dress, people living in the Paris metropolitan area estimate that an amount of 2,373 euros per month is necessary to live with dignity, while for those residing in cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants, this amount goes down. at 1994 euros.
Economist Jean-Marc Daniel, quoted by BFMTV, questions this approach, arguing that salaries should be determined by objective economic criteria, such as the marginal productivity of the employee and the relationship between supply and demand.
This prospect raises concerns among the French faced with a rise in prices exceeding the increase in their salaries.