Quote:
Originally Posted by 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).
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Yes, that's pretty much what the French businesswoman I listened to said. So whilst making firms far more careful about whom they employ does mean they tend to get better staff and those who're not up to scratch get left behind.
It's almost the reverse of what I'd expect in more socialist countries like France where the state run/subsidised sector is much bigger than here IIRC.
I did hear somewhere that there's a growing 'industry' in France of phantom companies which are staffed and operate exactly like real ones but produce nothing and are simply set up to give experience to the unemployed. I'm not sure whether those engaged in such activities are counted as being unemployed however.