This scenario was unthinkable a year ago: in the capital of France, some gems of the hotel industry are laying off a large number of employees. A situation that is of concern to the City Council about the conditions and consequences of such a restructuring.
Luxury Parisian hotels are implementing restructuring plans that threaten hundreds of jobs, while these establishments have received financial assistance, for example to cover partial unemployment or government-guaranteed loans.
Marriott Rive Gauche closed until 2024
For example, the Marriott Rive Gauche, which announced a serious development program at the end of July 2019, was closed in March 2020 due to the Covid-19 crisis. In February 2021, the management of this business travel giant, located in the 14th arrondissement of Paris, announced a Workplace Protection Plan (PSE) for 260 employees. This is 95% of the entire workforce. And the closure of the institution is planned until 2024. “The PSE plan is connected only with the economic crisis and the health crisis, which forced the hotel to close its doors. Livelihoods, mainly at the expense of foreign and business customers, will not return to their previous state until 2023-2024,” – confident in management management company. “Initially, it was assumed that the hotel will maintain part of its activities throughout the entire operation, but the ongoing crisis does not allow this to be done.”
Trade unions (CFE-CGC, Unsa and CFDT) and employees, however, criticize the minimalist conditions that accompany the downsizing and decry the subcontracting when the plant reopens, scheduled for 2024. Management has assured stakeholders that it does not intend to subcontract.
Subcontracting in sight
At the Westin Paris Vendôme, a four-star hotel in central Paris also owned by the giant Marriott, 168 of the 100-year-old hotel’s 367 employees are under a downsizing plan, according to the Socio-Economic Committee (CSE). This social plan will aim to replace the concierge staff, maids and administrators with subcontractors. The tension is high. PSE was ratified by union delegates against the opinion of the CSE secretary and most of the staff.
According to the CSE audit, the plan (in particular, compensation payments) is weak for the employees concerned, as it will cost “less than 10%” of the savings that the layoff would bring. In conflict with their representatives, employees gather in front of Parisian establishments every week, fearing the dismissal of all staff. “The discussions between management, unions and employees are really difficult, but after the announcement of the layoffs, the plan has improved somewhat,” says LREM deputy Sylvain Maillard, who exchanged views with the parties to the conflict in mid-March.
The Méridien Etoile, the largest hotel in the capital, with a capacity of about 1000 rooms, is undergoing renovation. The hotel has closed one of its wings, which accounts for 50% of its capacity, according to management. The closure led to the announcement of the layoff voluntary (PDV) plan, followed by the PSE, covering 245 out of 478 jobs, which was implemented in February. Lost jobs include maintenance staff, housekeepers, customer service agents, and security, according to CFDT. “Positions will be removed to recreate others with a notion of increased versatility,” said Pascal Pedrac, CFDT-HCR.
Melia Paris-La Défense announced a PSE for 32 employees as of February 2021, as well as the transfer of 54 positions, mainly cleaning staff, to the subcontracting category. The two represented unions (CGT and CFDT) have disapproved of the PSE and are calling for further rallies in front of the Spanish network’s Parisian establishments.
Paris has 33 million fewer tourists in 2020
Finally, the Intercontinental hotel was able to accommodate a number of customers in the summer of 2020 and hopes to reopen in the near future, simultaneously with the Café de la Paix, owned by the same group. At the same time, Intercontinental has also reorganized its workforce and is cutting 88 jobs. The management plans to “cut staff numbers, not subcontract,” says Frederic Hawkwarth, deputy tourism officer at the Paris Mayor’s Office, who contacted the hotel’s management.
In a letter sent in mid-March to the directors of the five aforementioned hotels, the Paris City Council shared with management its “concern” about the conditions and consequences of the layoffs.
The French capital has been heavily impacted by the health crisis. In 2020, Paris-le-de-France received 17.5 million tourists, including 12.6 million French, and recorded a historic drop in attendance: 33.1 million tourists lost compared to 2019. At the same time, tourism revenues were 6.4 billion euros, a loss of 15.5 billion euros compared to 2019.