France’s New Labor Laws: ‘Flexibility, and No Security’<br />“This is a means for companies to get rid of low-cost employees with seniority,<br />and therefore considered too highly paid, while at the same time recruiting precarious and disposable workers,” Philippe Martinez, the secretary general of the General Confederation of Labor, said in a statement while the negotiations at PSA were being carried out.<br />The new measures may also have the effect of pitting labor groups against one another — a development that could work in Mr. Macron’s favor.<br />The changes to the country’s voluminous labor code are part of a broad push by President Emmanuel Macron to revive growth and steer France toward a Scandinavian-style economic model known as “flexible security.”<br />But the initial imbalance between employers’ rights and workers’ protections means the economic picture could get worse before it gets better.<br />His union hailed last week’s agreement at PSA, saying it was “not a danger for employees,” but “an opportunity for those who want it.”<br />Under that deal, the older workers are being offered generous terms to take the buyouts.<br />Pierre-Olivier Salmon, the head of corporate information at PSA Group, said the carmaker is looking to bring in a new generation of workers with the digital<br />and programming skills needed to develop projects like electric cars and future technology for the automotive industry.
