Get the inside scoop on jobs and careers with Vault career guides. The Vault Guide to Top French Employers is your complete resource to jobs, careers, interviews and recruiting.
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The Vault Guide to Top French Employers Get the inside scoop on jobs and careers with Vault career guides. The Vault Guide to Top French Employers is your complete resource to jobs, careers, interviews and recruiting. |
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The Vault Guide to Top French Employers With the world?s sixth-biggest economy, France is a nation full of heavy hitters across all industries. Alongside the rest of Europe, the French social and economic landscape has changed significantly over the past 50 years, mainly by way of the evolution of the European Union. Globalisation, too, has had a part to play in this.
The France of today is a world where its multinational corporations have traditionally had close ties to the State. French President Nicolas Sarkozy, elected in May 2007, has promised economically liberal strategies for growth, whilst throwing his weight behind traditional socialist policies. Whatever they face, however, one thing is for sure: all the companies featured in this guide are relentlessly chasing growth. Inside, Vault has profiled the biggest and best known companies in France, presenting you with information on which companies are expanding, recruiting and scouting for new talent.
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French GDP growth is one of the lowest in the Eurozone, at approximately two percent annually, and public spending is the highest at 53.5 percent. Budget deficit in 2007 was 54.7 billion euros, an improvement on 2006?s 54.87 billion euros.
The grand puppeteer
At the start of President Nicholas Sarkozy?s term, in May 2007, major changes in French economic policy were promised. Sarkozy?s right-hand men, Prime Minister Fran?ois Fillon and French economist Jacques Attali, advised him that in order to eliminate France?s budget deficit, public spending needed to be frozen for five years. Public sector employment is likely to be reduced too.
Au revoir, state support
The France of 2008 and beyond is one where economic liberalisation is emphasised. This means policies that encourage competition between businesses and keep labour costs down are being pushed through by the government in order to make the economy more dynamic. Sarkozy is a veritable whirlwind of activity, and it comes as no surprise that his enthusiasm stretches to wide-scale socioeconomic reform.
Before heading towards a liberalisation model under Sarkozy, France was famous for its socialist bent. Economically, the dirigiste model of governmental control over industry might have gone out of fashion in the early 1980s under Mitterand, but politically, the country is still wedded to socialist ideals of state support and public sector privileges. Traditional beliefs such as creating ?national champions? in business, and a mistrust of too much privatisation, die hard. It will prove difficult for Sarkozy to introduce liberalising reforms without angering those who think he is straying too far from the socialist model.
