Labor Flexibility Separates the French and the Americans

François Hollande has landed in capitalist territory. In [the U.S.], where the difference between a “socialist” and a “social democrat” eludes many, public authorities play a less dominant role than in France. The taxation level in the United States does not reach 25 percent of GDP, compared with more than 45 percent in France. François Hollande chairs a republic where public expenditures represent 57 percent of GDP. Barack Obama’s amount to 42 percent. With a population five times larger [than France’s], the size of the U.S. economy is a little more than six times greater.

But private companies especially, powerfully defended by their “lobbies,” exist in a radically different working culture. What the French would call “labor flexibility” is taken for granted here. That is part of the reason why the American companies are quicker to hire, to take risks and to innovate — and just as quick to fire when the wind turns.

“The American employee, from my experience, has greater economic maturity than the French employee,” explains Laurent Van Huffel, executive vice-president of a French software company that employs more than thirty people in the United States.

“I had to lay off staff here, a few years ago. It was a difficult thing that I was worried about. But the discussions on redundancies went well. The employees know that a company must earn contracts and money to thrive. We accept this reality about the job market in the United States. The first person that I had to lay off was even less traumatized than me. It is she who said to me: ‘Don’t worry, I will find a job.’ And it is true, the system is so much more flexible here.”

Negotiations Between Unions and Employers Are Done at the Firm Level and Not by the Industry

The average American is flabbergasted when he is told that in France, employees of the private sector are recruited on the basis of contracts (CDD or CDI). He is even more confused when he is told that “social partners” have negotiated these rigid and protected statutes. There is not even any term in the United States for “social partners.”

[In the U.S.] the employees of the private sector hired on the basis of a “contract” are professional sportsmen, actors or unionized staff in companies such as General Motors where a single compulsory union has a monopoly on hiring hourly workers.

Of course, negotiations between unions and employers exist. But they are done at the level of the firm and not by the industry. Similarly, strikes, which are extremely rare, are only declared at the company level, or even only on specific industrial sites. The concept of “national social movement” with work stoppage in several sectors is unknown here and would fall within the category of insurrection. And of course, there is no “third social revolution” in America.

The Long Lunch Breaks Taken by the French Have Always Been Talked About in the United States

The greater flexibility of the U.S. labor force is striking to French expatriate business leaders in the United States. “Here we ask our American workers to change the duration of their work week depending on our orders. They agree to work less in difficult times, sometimes a day less per week or more … we could never get this from our French workers,” acknowledges Paul D. , the French leader of an industrial company located on both sides of the Atlantic.

“We employ 850 people in three American plants. There is no union. But the decisions are nevertheless more consensual than if we were in France. My employees are, however, much less protected. Despite the redundancies that we have had a few years ago, we have never gone on strike. The employee admits here that the work depends on the clients and order books,” the manager continued.

“In France we have cafeterias for our workers. They have an hour to eat. Here we have canteens and basic food which is often from vending machines. Our workers take half an hour for lunch,” he said.

The long lunch breaks taken by the French have always been talked about in the United States. “I eat in 15 minutes in my office. And it is very good,” admits Laurent Van Huffel.