91–100 of 135 posts
The problem is work ethic. I've been to France on business on 2-week stints about a dozen times, and I can tell you from my experience they do not want to work hard -- at anything. 6hr workdays, and at LEAST 1hr for lunch and worst of all they look at you like you are the crazy one for wanting to get more done each day.
Maybe France really changed a lot. But be not mistaken: It is still the most bureaucratic country on earth. Anecdote: I'm doing a PhD in France. Each year, one has to do a re-inscription. In Germany, that means sending money to the university. In France, that means sending in – let me count, I have them on my desk – 17 documents, and to pay as well of course (preferred way: with a check. Like it is 50 years ago). The…
Many many countries are worse ...
And the level of bureaucracy is not the same everywhere in France. Education is a very conservative administration. Universities even more so, because they don't have much money (it's very different than in the US), so they stick to the process (with paper) they have.
In the private sector, this is quite different. Also many company-focused administrations (URSAAF, CIPAV) provides web site/app where you can manage your file. It is not perfect, but it's getting better every year. I think my accountant is doing 80% of her job digitally.
I grew up in France; gradutated from University (so not from French Ivy League known as "Les Grandes Ecoles"). I'm currently in a consulting position and tried to launch several startups-ideas at the end of my MS degree with the "Auto-Entrepreneur" status and it was very difficult to find investors because french people are very pessimistic by nature and the atmosphere created by the state and the media is really opp…
And the difficulty of finding an engineer willing to be paid in equity only, in a market where they can get both equity AND a good salary, is nothing special to France believe me.
Maybe France really changed a lot. But be not mistaken: It is still the most bureaucratic country on earth. Anecdote: I'm doing a PhD in France. Each year, one has to do a re-inscription. In Germany, that means sending money to the university. In France, that means sending in – let me count, I have them on my desk – 17 documents, and to pay as well of course (preferred way: with a check. Like it is 50 years ago). The…
My impression living in France for the last year is very similar to yours. It's the mecca of paperwork (but doing taxes was relatively easy). And if you're required to supply some documentation from another country, you're likely to be required to get it translated to French by an official translator (which not only takes time but can be quite expensive). In contrast, I've never had a problem handing in German docume…
As soon as French salaries come ANYWHERE CLOSE to similar salaries in London or the US or even Berlin, then maybe I'd consider it. France just isn't competitive on the salary front, hence the brain drain.
This "Reviens Léon" initiative is a masquerade and based on the grotesque idea that expats are not french because they crossed a border. Countries are not bound to frontiers anymore, if I'm growing a network out of my country, I'm becoming an ambassador of the whole french culture. How is that less beneficial to its international standing? French companies and administrations deplore the lack of tech engineers, but a…
This "Reviens Léon" initiative is a masquerade and based on the grotesque idea that expats are not french because they crossed a border. Countries are not bound to frontiers anymore, if I'm growing a network out of my country, I'm becoming an ambassador of the whole french culture. How is that less beneficial to its international standing? French companies and administrations deplore the lack of tech engineers, but a…
This "Reviens Léon" initiative is a masquerade and based on the grotesque idea that expats are not french because they crossed a border. Countries are not bound to frontiers anymore, if I'm growing a network out of my country, I'm becoming an ambassador of the whole french culture. How is that less beneficial to its international standing? French companies and administrations deplore the lack of tech engineers, but a…