I tell my fathers, 'But you are a boss, you hired five people, you are a hero of the nation because the MP who lectures you on morality has never created a single job, never created wealth, never managed a profit and loss account.'
Delighted to welcome you to this new episode of the French Forces of Industry podcast.
We are very honored that you are with us. It gives me great pleasure. We must hunt in packs. I'd like to hear about that fight, which has become personal. Can you start by introducing yourself? Be synthetic, then we'll go into your story.
I am a telecom engineer and industrialist. I make small electronic components. I brought one: an electro-optical transceiver for aeronautics, developed over 15 years. We are the only ones in the world to do this in extreme temperatures. We produce it in France and sell worldwide. It lightens aircraft by replacing copper with optical fiber, saving fuel and CO2. So industry in France is possible. I have fought to keep my factories. I set up factories abroad to lower costs and attack local markets while selling French excellence. For every three Mexican jobs, I created one in France after conquering US markets. My French workforce grew from 800 to 1700 in 30 years. I export 90% of my production.
Okay. And what does it do exactly?
It lightens planes by replacing copper with optical fiber. The planes consume less, less CO2. It's virtuous. I have fought all my life to keep my factories. I was criticized for offshoring but for every three Mexican jobs, I created one in France after conquering US markets. So my workforce increased.
Yes, because when you say 1700 jobs in France, are they at your company?
Yes, but also SMEs. My eternal fight is to reindustrialize France. We must not break our industrial flagships. When Alcatel sold to Nokia, it destroyed thousands of jobs. In 40 years, French industry went from 20% of GDP to 10%. Why? Because industry is seen as polluting. When a factory closes, each job supports additional jobs in commerce, services. So you lose millions of direct and indirect jobs. I promote a competitive, profitable, humane, and environmental economy. You can't last by mistreating employees. I've known four crises; we handle layoffs humanely. My concept is Profit, People, Planet. The first P must exist for the others to function. This is not understood in France. Intellectuals like Sartre promoted social without economic base. Social is only a consequence of a working economy. Two-thirds of our debt is social debt. You can only distribute wealth you have created. Now we are at the breaking point.
Maybe a point: when you say you promised a million jobs, it was an objective, not a promise. You committed to companies creating a million jobs.
At MEDEF, I wondered how to make economic reforms accepted. We created the '1 million jobs' project conditional on reforms in fiscal, social, apprenticeship, and simplification. The government under Manuel Valls accepted them: CICE, lower corporate tax, labor code simplification. Confidence returned, and we created a million jobs between 2014 and 2019. Macron continued with flat tax and Pénicaud orders. Confidence is key for growth. When I left MEDEF in 2018, I thought the Socialist Party had become social-democratic. But the dissolution in 2024 showed they hadn't; they allied with LFI for the NFP program, which is a mistake. Since then, it's hell for bosses. They want to tax everything. I am furious. We have great assets in France, but they are being wasted.
Confidence is essential for growth. As Wolfgang Schäuble told me, confidence is 50% of growth. When companies have confidence, they hire and invest. That happened between Valls and Macron's first three years. Unemployment went from 10.2% in 2013 to 7.2% in 2023.
So you were with the Socialist Party, the Valls wing, which was in power but had rebels.
But then after the dissolution, the PS went to LFI. The NFP program is an absolute mistake.
Exactly. I thought the PS hadn't made its economic aggiornamento, unlike the German SPD in 1959. After the dissolution, it's absolute hell. Politicians only talk about taxing everything. I am furious at Macron's decision to dissolve. We have considerable assets: aeronautics, defense, AI. But it's all wasted. I sound the alarm: stop your nonsense, you are ruining France.
Can you tell us, do you have statistics on the long term?
Take Switzerland: they kept their industry at 20% of GDP. They have factories per village, no professional politicians, light administration (30 civil servants per 1000 vs 75 in France). They oppose more vacation. France's decline started with Mitterrand's mistakes: early retirement, minimum wage hike, nationalizations. The 35-hour week in 2000 was catastrophic. From 2000, our GDP per capita dropped relative to Germany, Switzerland, the US. In 2000, we were equal; now Germans are 20% ahead, Swiss over 90k euros, Americans 40% ahead. We are being overtaken because of an ideology that bashes industry and prioritizes social over economics.
Yes. And Switzerland was already ahead at +10 or +20% GDP per capita in 2000, while we were equal in 1980.
Exactly. So the Swiss took off. Today our GDP per capita is about 40-45k; Germans 20% ahead. They did Schröder's reforms in 2003. Americans are 40% ahead. 2000 was the start of relative poverty.
Can we come back to a point, Pierre? Because we talked figures. Can you explain concretely how it works between a company's revenue and taxes?
