As deconfinement progresses, more and more employees on short-time working are resuming their pre-health crisis work rhythm. Anthony, 27, a supervisor in the clothing industry, testifies.
“On Saturday March 14, I finished my day, then I was put on partial unemployment. I work for a brand specializing in shirts in a department store in Paris. My company was one of the first to have had to close , while the confinement had not yet been announced. I had to resume my activity in the week of the 1er June but my company finally prefers to bring us back gradually; I don’t know yet if I’ll take the 8 or the 15.
So far, I’m living well with being on short-time work because I’m lucky not to be in Paris. Where I live, in the Yvelines, I have space and the ability to move around: I don’t feel isolated at all, then my family is nearby. But it’s sure that after all this time I’m starting to say to myself: ‘can’t wait for the recovery’. In the same way, thanks to my living conditions, I don’t have the weariness that makes me think that I really have to go back to work, but, clearly, I can’t wait to go back.
I feel like I’m really missing something
For now, my routine is that of a young retiree. I replace my working days by taking care of myself as best I can but I’ve been going around in circles a lot, especially lately. Beyond two months, it becomes a bit heavy. All that needed to be done is: once you’ve painted all the walls in your house, how do I take care of it? I clean, eat, I go out a minimum, but apart from that, it’s quite limited. My days are punctuated by shopping and meals.
I miss my rhythm before; I want to break the routine in which I settled for two and a half months. In the end, it is not normal when you come from the world of work. I feel like I’m really missing something; even if working is not a primary need, the fact of not having resumed while others is starting to weigh on me a little.
I have questions about my business
Nevertheless, being inactive for more than two months did not make me particularly question my relationship to work. I reoriented quite recently; I entered the world of sales and made-to-measure a little less than two years ago, so I haven’t explored it yet. It really excites me, it’s an area in which I want to stay and last.
On the other hand, it’s true that I ask myself questions about my business: will it hold up? She already had financial problems before the Covid-19 and I know that the rest will be complicated: if it is, in a month, my company will close. From 1er June, some companies had to take back their employees because the State no longer provides full support for partial unemployment: some companies will be able to survive and others will not.
I’m not anxious about taking public transport, but it will weigh on me
The partial unemployment status means that jobs could be saved, but we do not really know where this leads us. It is better for me to be in the field to have a more direct view of how the company is doing and to get the answers to my questions.
For the recovery, my company will not be able to afford to pay us Uber cars to come back to work, so I will take public transport. I’m not anxious at the idea of taking public transport, but it will weigh on me, that’s for sure. The other day, when I went to Paris, I took 30 minutes longer than usual; I go from one train every 15 minutes to one every hour. It’s a real journey. And again, for work, I’m lucky because I arrive in Saint-Lazare, from where I only have a 5-minute walk to reach my place of work.
I don’t think I’ll know the pleasure of working again as soon as it resumes
Even if I’m rather eager to start again, I don’t think I’ll know the pleasure of working again as soon as you resume: when you’re in sales but you can’t have a direct interaction with your client, it’s complicated . I imagine that it will be necessary to keep at least 2 meters from each other and that I will spend my time repeating myself because it will be difficult to hear me with my mask; it’s gonna be something.
I guess it’s not going to be very productive and that my days will be settled around barrier gestures and how to enforce them. Especially since where I work, there are 4,000 employees: I have no feedback yet on how they will take care of the distance between everyone. There are no walls, all the brands combined are on one floor, it’s like a big open space. All of this intrigues me a lot.”
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