This is living proof that socialism does not work. Lay me off, pay me off, vive la France.
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Wow, I never quite realized WHY the French had such persistently high unemployment.
It is obviously more lucrative to BE UNEMPLOYED!
A maximum rate of 8700 euros a month? that's like $100,000 a year ON UNEMPLOYMENT! for THREE YEARS! in the US, I believe the maximum I am aware of is something like $22,000 over six months (and you must be the head of household to get this).
I am not saying our system is perfect, but their system is BONKERS. If you pay someone $1200 to sit home on their fanny and only $1500 to go out slog off to work every day -- paying commuting costs -- buying lunches -- dry cleaning work clothes -- probably 80% will choose to stay home and keep the "easy money".
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I agree. And if you are an employer, all these rules will make you think twice before hiring.
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To those Americans who think " we cannot have anything done in France " because of the 35h/ week and 5 weeks per year paid vacation, look at the real numbers : France has the same work production revenue as the USA . No less.
And " we cannot have anything done " ?
We build aiplanes thst are more modern and efficient than the Boeing ( Airbus ). We have a healthcare system that is number one in the world ( USA = 34th ).
We build cars that are more efficient than US cars. peugeot, Renault, Citroen.
We have trains running at 200 km/h and 3h between 500 km aprt cities, that make your Amtrak look like a ridiculous joke.
Look at the performances of a Renault semi truck compared to a US truck.
We have 8 times less violent crime rate than the USA and also about 8 times less incarceration rate per capita.
We are a nation of readers and culture when in the US nobody reads anymore. And the culture is limited to the elite.
Look at the state of the infrastructure in the USA and the conditions of the roads compared to France and Europe.
And we could continue on a lot of others aspects.
And it would be much better in Europe if the US corporations were not cheating on us. All US big corporations are fiscally registered in Europe and not in the USA and cheat to pay zero taxes while using the infrastructures and invading the markets, destroying the economies. ,stealing jobs.
That is Apple, Amazon, Google, Yahoo, Facebook, Starbucks, Netflix, and others. All in Europe stealing from us .
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@JPH. If by “production revenue” you mean labor productivity per hour, then you are right: in 2017, $69.6 in France vs $72.0 in the US. Pretty close.
https://blogs-images.forbes.com/niallmccarthy/files/2019/02/20190205_Labor_Productivity.jpg
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In the France of 100 billion euro worth business men like Bernard Arnaud, the average salaries are miserable. Friends sent me ads from the ministry of education for teaching jobs at public universities for 1500 euros a month.The post office just got condemned for using temporary private contractors and putting workers in dangerous situations. France Telecom /Orange is now on the national scene of a law suit for pushing workers to mass suicide . Renault went through the same with unstoppable series of suicides .
Inequalities are multiplied american style. Rich people don't pay taxes, pretending the contrary. Income tax is only 20 % of the total. 80 % of the taxes are paid by the poor and lower middle class.
That is the communist France that some americans see.
And for sure it is better to be on unemployment in France than working at minimum wage in the USA .
Still free health care, free education and 5 weeks paid vacation annually for everybody. Who wants to work 35 h/week for a miserable pay ?
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@JPH: everything French must be adjusted by their VERY short workweek -- which I thought Macron was changing, but apparently no -- 35 hours a week is 140 hours a month. In the USA, 40 hours a week would be 160 hours a month! that really adds up over a year -- 20 hours a month would be 240 hours in a year or the equivalent of 6 weeks of WORK.
No wonder the French never get anything done.
Also: aren't lower French wages explained by A. a very short work week and B. lengthy paid vacations and C. long, long unemployment pay?
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@Concerned Citizen You are absolutely wrong. France achieves the same production revenue as the USA with 35 h/ week.And 5 weeks paid vacation per year for everybody.
American workers are much less productive.
Please educate yourself and look at the real data not your false imaginery .
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Whether it’s France or America, I’m always skeptical when I see news of labor shortages for jobs that are not back-breaking, such as farm work. It often means the terms of employment— the pay, benefits, tenure and job security— are so onerous that it’s not worth working at a particular place.
Like this story and so many others, the reporter never asks the complaining employers whether the compensation they are offering is competitive or even amounts to a living wage. Very often, it is not. So the tendency is to blame this problem on the provision of public benefits, which may or may not be true. And then, debate ensues on reduction or elimination of those benefits in an American-style race to the bottom.
It appears to me that French employers’ reliance on temporary contracts to maximize profits has created an atmosphere of insecurity that has driven some people to the security of unemployment benefits. Maybe if they created more meaningful full-time jobs with full benefits, the problem would be solved.
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@LIChef Exactly. The problem in France is that the bourgeoisie has stolen the benefits made to sustain the social fabric. They use the benefits of free higher education.Use all the tricks from the national resources .Rich people go see doctors 5 times a month, the military elite used to have water taking vacations in Vichy with hotel and restaurant paid by the state ( on top of their regular vacations ), rich employers like this one with 500 shop feel entitled to pay workers a misery.
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With public employees being laid off and an 8.7 percent unemployment rate,
it's not surprising that people in France are having difficulty finding suitable work. Macron needs to generate more jobs, not penalize those who are unable to find them.
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@Stephen Marchetta: and this is France in the ECONOMIC BOOM that is world wide now.
Just wait until the Crash -- possibly next year -- they will be back up to 11% or 14% unemployment.
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We had friends whose children worked in the film industry in Paris, as French, it was more beneficial to them not to work too much than to work. We were stunned since we worked in the same field and as young people were willing to work to gain experience at any salary or sometimes free. The work ethic in France is very bad and employers have a heavy burden with each new hire and have serious problems firing anyone however incompetent they are which is why employers are so afraid of hiring people. Change the work rules, particularly for small businesses and France would have less unemployment.
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@getGar. No, the work ethic in France is not “very bad”. This is true only in the specific sector you mention, namely the film and performing arts industry. That sector is covered by a special, extremely generous unemployment insurance scheme, which does tend to be abused by some workers.
Overall however, French workers are highly efficient and committed, as shown by the labor productivity per hour, one of the highest in the world. Yes, the US does better, but by a tiny margin only.
https://blogs-images.forbes.com/niallmccarthy/files/2019/02/20190205_Labor_Productivity.jpg
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Hopefully dystopian labor policies such as this will accelerate demand for universal basic income.
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