Angers city will have to learn from the Technicolor end of story

After Continental, Nec, Act, Angers should face in the days to come a symbolic disappearance : the closure of Thomson, the jewel of the industrialization of the city during the 50's. Having employed till 3 500 persons to the manufacture of tv sets, the factory will lay off its last 350 technicians. If that sad event has something to do with the madness of the time work reduction law which, since 15 years, drove uncompetitive dozens of companies and thousands of employees all over Angers, it is now desirable that the city learns lessons from that event. 


The first is there are no employees without employers. And, in that way, the opinion of an Angers real-estate agent a few weeks ago was right : Angers doesn't lack housing, it lacks companies. If the quality of life in the city comes from public facilities (a giant swimming pool, new banks along the river, a new congress center...), this is not sufficient. Inhabitants need jobs, so employers. But are the conditions gathered in Angers to fuel new companies? Here is the second lesson. A few years ago, the companies have to finance a large part of the first trolley line. How will the city do to finance a new one? Few by few, all these expenses financed by private companies increase the overall cost of work and makes other workers, even with low qualifications, in other countries, more competitive... In the Technicolor case, it is not sufficiently said that all to work load is leaving Angers to Manaus (Brazil)...

A few weeks ago, all the cities members of the Angers Loire Métropole launched a "battle for jobs". Its chairman, Jean-Claude Antonini was proud of "a common will to take part to the return of growth" in Angers. All the conditions are now gathered to implement that policy.