[Taf]

Having seen French employment from the inside, I can tell you that employment law is so strict and pro-worker that once you are in a job, and on full contract, it is VERY hard to get you out of that job. The literature covering employment law is a HUGE book, and unions know every word, nuance and loophole.

So employers are extremely motivated to employ only the best, and that usually means those that will work their asses off. And that high productivity means the bosses need fewer workers, so their unemployment rate is much higher that ours (around 10% I believe).