Find out more about the main findings of the survey:
In a period marked by political instability, VSE owners’ optimism about their own business declined again in the third quarter of 2025, following a slight upturn in the second quarter. Optimism about the general business climate in France, meanwhile, continues to erode, accompanied by growing mistrust of the executive branch.
Hiring is on the rise for the third quarter of 2025, while the number of job cuts is also on the increase, albeit to a lesser degree.
It’s worth noting that there is a significant discrepancy between the perceptions of VSE managers and current economic reality. In fact, their assessment of the general business climate in France and of their own business deteriorates over the course of 2025 – no doubt in response to an increasingly deteriorated and worrying political context from their point of view – while the indicators relating to employment and business failures turn out to be less alarming in concrete terms (business failure situation stable, stable gap between job creations and deletions).
VSE owners express a high level of concern, but also anger, about France and the current political instability.
Anticipating negative repercussions and decisions that will be difficult to take at company level, bosses are backing the presidential camp in favor of the Rassemblement National, with the prospect of a dissolution of the National Assembly and the organization of new legislative elections.
However, this political uncertainty does not alleviate the economic and budgetary concerns of very small business owners.
