Hi guys! First off: 👉 Click here to get 65% off LingoPie's annual subscription, plus they offer a 7-day free trial! learn.lingopie.com/unintentionallyfrenchified And second: 👉 Throw my way all your thoughts/questions about workplace culture in France! Is it what you thought it would be? Do you agree/disagree with my experience? Catch you all below! Bises! ;)
Hi! Great video! You mentioned that you'd link a video on finding jobs in France but it's not in your description box. Could you please comment with the link?
What a ridiculous question! I am neither French nor British but have worked in both countries. My experience is that, irrespective of regulations, the "cadres superiors" in France work long hours and work smart. Many Brits at the same level are the same but more Brits waste time with gossip and Fridays in the pub or wine bar. French high level workers speak English but very few Brits speak French...or English particularly well.
According to international studies, french people are amongst the 3 most productive people. More productive than german, japanese or american. But it is right we organize ourselves quite differently from other people. About pauses, this is not only about networking, I am in IT, we use pauses in order to keep ourselves in touch with others people and team. So we have a better understanding of our work/project environnement and so our work is more valued and we may have important knowledge or knowledge that may be usefull.
@@UnintentionallyFrenchified I've got a coffee maker in my office : it's a strategic tool. Most of the time, i get more informations from coffee breaks than in general meetings.
I'm out of Paris (Angers) and most people finish by 5:00pm, and almost never after 6:00pm. I choose to be at work very early in the morning (8:00 am) so I personnaly finish at 4:30pm. And, as you are, i'm paid per day and not per hour. I feel that Paris puts a lot more pressure on workers to do very long days of work (I've worked both in Paris and in Province).
Interesting to have your point of view outside of Paris! In some of the companies/teams I worked in, I felt like being at the office and being seen was as important as your work being done. So people couldn't leave before 6 even if you had finished for the day. It was really frustrating.
@@UnintentionallyFrenchified I would also add that usually parisians start work later than in other cities (I guess it's because of the commute which is generally longer) but they end their day later..
It depends on the work you do and the time constraints it poses or not. I also work in Angers and my hours are more like 9h / 18h and sometimes later. Having been a Parisian for 36 years, the major difference is the travel time. I easily gain an hour of free time per day in Angers compared to Paris because of the less time spent in transport.
In Engineering or Business positions a very typically french Glass Ceiling may exist depending on the Grande Ecole you went to. There are "Centrale", "Mines/Ponts", "X" (Ecole Polytechnique) (for engineers) or "Dauphine", "ESSEC", "HEC" (for business) companies were upper levels are "reserved" to/by alumni of one of these particular school. And if you're dealing with government contracts having been at "Sciences Po", "Normale Sup" or the ENA (soon to be ISP) will help... It's less and less true but still quite present especially in very big companies. One way to breach it is doing a postgrade diploma at one moment in your career in one of these school "to enter the club".
What you said about meetings reminds me of my own assessment of frequent meetings in the place where I worked in the U.S. People loved to hear themselves talk. I noticed that the most frequent decision that came out of a meeting, usually in the final minutes, was to have another meeting! Ugh! When all was said and done, there was much more said than done.
I'm Canadian and many of us don't take lunch, meaning we continue to work and eat at our desks or we run personal errands We do lunch with colleagues when we have conferences or a special event but it's not an every day occurrence to get 5 plus people together.
during breaks, we often talk about work, so it's not a waste of time. It also strengthens team cohesion. Would Americans confuse social and socialism ?
The horrible thing about working in a big company or in the administration in France is the hierarchy. It is incredible the time and energy wasted in "nourishing" the hierarchy, so that it feels like it is doing something. French managers hate performing their managerial role, so they parasitize their employees by asking for non-stop "reporting" without it being used to move forward on anything or make effective decisions.
You've probably already seen or heard the following sentence: We work to live, we don't live to work. This is the key to understand the approach of the French, and more generally Europeans, towards work. So, when at work, we do work (unlike stereotypes pretend the French are rated to be highly productive), but when it's time to stop working, we do stop working and enjoy life - but there are exceptions of course, workoholics also exist. That's called work vs private life balance. Overworking people, or overworkgin yourself, only leads to unhappiness and burnouts, and in the end lack or loss of productivty for the employer, that's been proven; so, where's the benefit on both sides?
From what I've gathered a lot of jobs pay barely more that the minimum wage so tons of people just consider that they're not gonna work more that the bare minimum. Also jobs are just there to give you money unless you're working at a job you're really passionate about (and like if you take accountants, if you consider the ratio of people working in this field vs how interesting the job can be, I'd say about 0.001% of the people working in that field are passionate and will put in more effort than their salary "deserves"). Generally most people would rather keep their energy for their life outside of work. (If bosses wanted people to do more they'd try paying them more.)
Si je peux me permettre d'apporter mon opinion sur les 35h , je peux dire que lorsque la loi des 35h est passée en 2000 , notre profession a fait le travail des 39h de l'époque en 35h , ce qui revient à dire qu'il a fallu accélérer la cadence très sérieusement , les salaires ont été bloqué très longtemps . Je pourrais en raconté des pages . 🤨
Toulouse is also a good city for foreigners who don't speak french. As it is the capital of aeronautics, you usually work with companies outside of France. And for the hours, it is very Parisian hours 9:30-10 to 6+ pm. ( I used to work In Paris) and to stay late just for people to see that we are still there even if we have finished our work for the day... In toulouse, for my case it is very free but usually 9-5 pm
Job security makes it so you can't boss people around by making them fear unemployment, you have to treat them like human beings and motivate them by making the workplace a nice place. If that is the worst thing about French workplace (which is not, Ofc) we are doing very well.
I’m French and what you said is totally accurate and true. I loved the part regarding meetings, I think it is really a French characteristic we love talking 🤣🤣 and sharing our point of views even if at the end we don’t take any decision, even for French people the amount of meetings at work is exhausting, I know French companies are trying to improve that. It is really interesting to see your point of view. 😊
Glad you enjoyed hearing my take on workplace culture! Totally agree that people are trying to improve those meetings! And one positive side of it is that everyone gets a chance to share their ideas :)
Excellent video Kate!! I'm French and I agree with you so much on the side effect of job security!! I've traveled in English-speaking countries a lot and maybe I picked up on the mindset as well but I can get so frustrated with some of my colleagues when they are not enthusiastic or dynamic enough in their daily tasks! I'm rooting for you on that one!! Concerning schedule, I'm a teacher (so French civil servant) so I start at 8 o'clock sharp (leave my house around 7.15-20 for the commute) and my day ends around 3 or 4 pm because we have shorter days in the teaching system in France.
Your schedule sounds way more like the American schedule! Most people work "8 to 5" jobs and teachers in the USA are more on a 7 am to 3/4 pm schedule like you. And glad to hear that you understand what I mean about being a bit more enthusiastic or dynamic!
i'm french, working in the south, and my job it's around 30h to over 70 hours a week, starting at 2 am , finish 4 -5 pm with 2h lunch break, or basic hours like 8am to 12 and 2pm to 7pm,other job u can work only at night, or 2x8 , 3x8 , 5x8 ( this will break your sleep habit , i hope you don't need a lot of sleeping )
As a french, and boss of a small IT company, working from very small to some vey big industries ( l'Oréal, Danone) i'm allways surprised how different are each society, their ethics, mood of their teams, organizations. It's difficult to build rules, some can be really involved, efficient AND cool, some are playing a role, pretending to be rigorous with an exaggereted hierarchy, useless and never ending meetings... some are just a bunch of morrons.
Hi Kate! I love your videos! Could you do a video about your experiences with the French interview process? I know that might not all be exactly the same from company to company but maybe some of the things you’ve noticed generally. Thank you and have a great week!
I live in the south but still am unemployed because I don’t speak the language. Paris definitely seems to have a lot of opportunities. It would be so interesting to work here and see all the differences, thanks for going into all the details as always.
Hi Sam! I feel ya, it was hard to get work in Paris as an intern when my french wasn't great. I'm sure living in a smaller town in the south makes things even harder. Stay focused on learning french and don't give up!!
I live outside Paris, in the South West. Office hours are 8:30 am to 6 pm, with a 1,5 hour break for lunch (some colleagues go back home to have lunch). In some companies it’s more 9am to 6pm with a 1 hour lunch break.
(This is an advice for foreigner as well as French) For the french writing (espacially the "conjugaison"/conjugations) I recently discovered that there are a lot of "grammar" (and conjugations) corrector online. And they are really helpful x') (I thought that franch conjugaison will be to complicate for software during at least the next decade but aparently not). I nearly forgot all I learned in school X') This is not really important in my job as a scientist, but for writing formal email, it can be important ^^"
Love your videos (except for the long commercials). When comparing salaries in Paris, versus big cities in the US, you said you have lower health care costs. I thought they take over 20% out of your pay for health care/social security??
I don’t know US but for your question, it is not 20% except if you consider taxes on income included. As a « barometer » you can remember that accommodation represent already about 30% of your income, then the 20% we spoke above, so already 50% is out. Then monthly wires from your various subscriptions and savings and finally your free money will represent 20-30%=
I like the French, but working with them is sometimes Hard. And I am Austrian not even German;) English is also a big problem, and my French is not THAT good most of the time. (But Italy is worse;) nordics r perfect to work with.
They're definitely not lazy, at least from what I've seen, but can't deny that for many French people their "work ethic" is not the same as in other countries (ie: some delivery people. I've had many a French delivery person that never come and or say they come and the door was blocked for them but they don't call for me to let them in, so annoying) I'd say it's even more important to know French to work in France, more than what is recommended in this video, even in Paris. In order to work in a big company as only an English speaker you almost need a Master's or a Doctorate, and even then they expect you to still be studying French. I have 3 people in my French class that only work in English, they work for really big companies, but their companies insisted them to learn French, but at least the companies are paying for it. Does France pay well.....? Uh............ Maybe not as well as the US for comparable jobs, but they don't need to when the infrastructure in France is better than in the States and a lot of stuff is already covered by taxes. Food service workers do usually get paid better though, lol Over the pandemic when my spouse was working from home, I got to listen in on some of their meetings, not like stereotypical French meetings at all 😂😂😂😂. There was always an agenda and people only had a certain time to get what they want out. And if there is no resolution at then end of said meeting is not a good sign. The sector my spouse works in if they did a "typical" French meeting they would get in big trouble, lol, a lot of things riding it
Your first point is so funny because my video is next week is all the ridic crap that happens at La Poste and this is like my number 2 point. The delivery driver that came and "you weren't home," but you've been in your pjs watching netflix the whole day. Also let me know where your husband works because i would love to have only meetings that had a real agenda and a real decision at the end of every meeting hahaha!
@@UnintentionallyFrenchified lol, If I told you what my spouse did I'd have to kill ya, 😉, just kidding, but I'll just say it's in the public sector and they do research.
Merci beaucoup pour ce retour plus objectif et argumenté. Il y a beaucoup de problèmes dans le monde du travail en France, c'est vrai et on a des choses à améliorer (!) mais juger sur les faits c'est toujours mieux que de juger sur des rumeurs, des clichés (comme le salaire, il faut tenir compte de la santé "gratuite", de l'école gratuite etc., un pays c'est un tout). Et Paris reste Paris, ce n'est pas la France, donc : merci !
I'm French and I live and work in a Nordic country, they don't have the reputation to be lazy at all, but I can guarantee there are a lot of slackers, and probably more than in French companies in general. I guess this reputation of laziness is more of a urban legend or a cliché forged by Brits ans Americans since the work culture is not the same. It's true that there are some people pretending to work and avoiding anything that is not on their duty list, but I found it was quite universal. It's just that some French people don't give a damn if you tell loudly they should do their job. :-) Same for the post office, where I live, the post office is opened from 7.30 to 15.00, and never on Saturdays, they don't even distribute the mail on Saturdays, and very often, your package is not delivered at your door, although you paid for the delivery, you have to go to the collection point. And what's more, yes, it's twice more expensive than in France. Regrading salaries, some economists compared the real cost of life between USA and Western European countries, and although the wages are much lower on our side, after deducing the cost of healthcare, education, unemployment and even all the ghost "taxes" like tips that you have to give in the US, in the end, we basically have a higher income although we pay more taxes and work "less". I think I even read an article where they said that French workers are amongst the most productive in the world. For meetings, it's usually very relaxed, we discuss a lot and joke around to release the tension in the room, so obviously foreigners would think we are wasting time.
Your day starts at 9 am ? I guess that you don' t work with Emily in Paris.. I can' t wrap my head around the fact that Eleonor is almost 2 yo.. Feel like yesterday when you said that you took your 4 months maternity leave and then went back to work ... for just a week and then lockdown lol Now she walks, she talks.. Finally, are you targeting a Loreal sponsor for your next videos with that hair??
I've seen people of different nationalities (including Americans) not doing their jobs... it depends on the individuals, not their country of origin. I'm surprised because I've heard this "some French people don't want to do their work unless you have some kind of relationship with them" from both you and Rosie, and I've never encountered this in France - I mean, in my experience, some people did not want to work and no amount of networking/having coffee with them would change that, but the vast majority of people did do their jobs, and nothing less would have been accepted from them by their management...
Hi, just reporting a little technical issue : the background of your video is sharp and you are a bit blurry. I've seen this in a lot of your videos, so you might want to look into it. Otherwise good job as usual.
Le problème de "la bise", si tant est que cela en soit un, ne se pose plus avec les gestes barrières. Et puis cela varie selon les entreprises et même les services dans une entreprise. Et puis personne n'a jamais été contraint à faire la bise si cela ne lui convient pas, il suffit de le dire à ses collègues. Il faudrait que les américains comprennent que pour les Français (et d'autres en Europe) On travaille pour vivre, pas l'inverse. J'admets que la "réunionite" est une maladie bien française mais CONFUCIUS n’a-t-il pas dit "De la discussion nait la lumière".
Right - I've never done la bise in any of my jobs, it totally depends on the people/the company's culture... Also, personally I had TONS of meetings at my job in the US but very few in my French jobs :)
You are really super! I like to listen those stories helpful Informations! How could i do without? And before we didn t have video internet, so we misslead us .how couldn t be enjoyed with watching and listening your videos? We got the manual how to do?
First of all, I love your videos and I’m so grateful you put your time and effort to make them so good. The “lazy” answer conflicts a little bit with your previous one (about having to networking to get things done). My experience is that there’s a lot of very competent French people who also suffer with the ones who feel so secure at work that they do the minimum, at the lowest speed possible. Is this laziness? 😉 I’ve also known people who had the potential to make more money in another job but are too comfortable in that mediocre position, or already used to that group of people, so they’ll never explore what they could accomplish. Cheers
Hi Andre! Totally agree that in France jobs are so secure that some people don't explore other opportunties because they are in their comfort zone. And sometimes it's a mediocre comfort zone. I get what you're saying about the not being lazy conflicting with the need to network to get things done. I guess I wouldn't group the two together because in my mind, the people that aren't for example helping me even though it's their job, are doing other things. They aren't neccessarily just sitting around doing nothing, they just won't prioritize my need unless they know me. Not sure if it's clear but I peronsally wouldn't call the french lazy when it came to work.
I wonder if the complacency in their work that you describe comes from the culture the French are alleged to have - that they don’t “live to work” the way Americans do? I’m American and it does feel like we are expected to devote our lives to our work and “climb the ladder” or we are not successful by many people’s standards. I’d also like to argue that I have worked with many a person who is not motivated - people who will make your job harder because they are lazy or too comfortable or the CEO’s nephew that failed out of college but got that corner office job 🤔
@@Chelseyandfam I’d like to add that most of my professional experience was acquired in global companies headquartered in “America”, and I believe that there are different “Americas” inside the US. I worked in California, Georgia, Connecticut, and New Jersey, and I’ve witnessed the stereotype of working harder than average in the Northeast only.
meh, some people just work to get the money and stability to do what they want in their hobbies. Tons of people don't have a big salary for a job that would deserve it. Like if you're gonna get paid the minimum possible, you're gonna work the minimum possible too and keep your energy for stuff that deserves it aka your life outside of work.
Pour n'avoir connu qu'un pays où travailler (la france), je peux dire que je n'aime pas du tout commet cela se passe. Trop de pauses, une pause à midi trop longue, la hiérarchie est lourde et cela peut être difficile de gravir les échelons. Je trouve qu'il manque de flexibilité dans les horaires, je préfère arriver tôt et partir tôt mais cela n'a jamais été accepté. Le processus de recrutement est très long et les recruteurs ne jurent que par les diplômes et les expériences. Quand on sort de l'université cela est compliqué de trouver un premier job même un deuxième car personne ne veut nous donner une chance. Pour les études que j'ai fait, je suis très mal payée. Cela dépend des secteurs mais bcp de français ne sont pas payés à la hauteur de ce qu'il devrait. Il y a aussi bcp de personnes comme tu dis qui font le minimum au travail mais qui vont rester tard car c'est bien vu. Je trouve cet aspect des horaires bien triste
Working in US was more relaxing than in France. But you understand why french business owners are mostly nervous. See the tax French have to pay. French owner pay you income twice because taxes. That,s why US business owners were more "cool" than French.... and in France I worked mostly 44h/Weeks, compare to US at all time 40H. Also, I was extremely lucky to work 4 the first time in US with a super cool business owner.
You must speak french for a job in FRance. Seriously : What s wrong ? try a job in french in Chicago...everybody speak english or spanish (perhaps german...but not french)
I work for a global "owned by the state" company, and I LOATHE meetings. Most of them are mandatory, and to my point of view kinda useless. 3 to 5 one-hour-meeting each week. We have a joke with my colleagues : " And what did we learn today ? " , " That, we'll find out in another year ". Or " That X got pregnant, and Y doesn't use the template he/she's supposed to " 😜😂 Once I even had a meeting to prepare... The next meeting. Not joking !
from 6:50 and a to follow in chapter 2, I need to disagree with what you are asking for, because it is what I heard in an american company and it's why I quit that company! in France, whatever you do, you are working in a team , even this mentality is vanishing years after years, and it is something I definately regret, because it is the way I consider a job ! I am retired now, but I will never accept a management like this, and it is something my american wife don't understand either. " Do your job and shut up" ( It is not exactly what you said, but it can be understand like this ) forget it here !
I think the difference is that I wouldn't say that I have felt working in France that we "are always working in a team." I personally feel like invidual success is as important as team success. And due to that, when people are prioritizing their to do list, they either prioritize based on what is best for them or the people they know, but not necessarily what their job description says. But again, maybe it's just the experiences I've had?
Actually it is a Northern Illinois/Wisconsin thing. I am from central Illinois and correct my Northern Illinois son-in-law every time 😂 (he also says expresso instead of espresso).
I'm French and I think French people are lazy. I have always worked on saturdays. I'm a postman. When I ask to people wether they would like to work as a postman, they say "No" because you have to work on Saturdays... I could understand if you were 40 with a wife and two children... But when you are 20...
@@aleajactaest4246 Je n'ai pas le temps, Je suis autoentrepreneur et mon entreprise est ouverte 9 h par jour au public ( de 9h à 18h en continu), je travaille les samedi matin sur RDV, et je commence 1h avant ouverture pour préparer et 1 h après pour ranger Arrête de chouiner: un mec de la Poste aurait mon emploi du temps il se serait suicidé depuis des années pour burnout....
là par exemple il est 7h 26 du matin et je suis en train de préparer la journée... qui finira officiellement à 18h. Sauf si un job m'oblige à rester un peu. Tous les français ne sont pas des employés qui râlent autour de la machine à café. Même s'il y en a. Les postiers m'ont toujours fait rigoler, comme les employés des chemins de fer... Sérieux t'as essayé un autre métier au moins? J'ai été 2 ans fonctionnaire d'Etat, et c'est justement la mentalité qui m'a fait fuir. J4ai démissionné et je suis parti apprendre mon métier.
tu connais les 35 h ?????( sauf les cadres supérieur font plus de 35h oublie pas quand en FRANCE en parle en Français pas en anglais Les Français n'aimes pas trop qu 'ont leurs parle en Anglais en France
7:42 This 35 h week was such a stupid political reform that basically nobody asked and was supposed to lower the unemployment rate. For years I have heard the top management say : no salary raise this year because of the 35 h. But we had to do exactly the same job than before. Maybe for factory workers who work on shift it was a gain. But for most employees, only a lack of purchasing power after several years. Thus the lower salary at the end. 13:11 OMG, I am french and I hate the « bise » thing with colleagues. Don’t even get me started with 4 times instead of 2 🤣 Even in my family we do it only when we reunite when we have not seen each other for some time, but definitely not on a daily basis. 13:26 Both formal and hierarchical. Formal because of the structure of the language, which was set by the aristocracy. Hierarchical because when you think at key famous French leaders, you think at Napoleon Bonaparte or Charles de Gaulle: military men who had a huge impact on the organization of the country. Even the most prestigious diploma in France is from École Polytechnique, a military academy. So you basically get the idea about France. 🤣🤣🤣 15:35 Totally agree, meetings are some sort of networking thing. It’s interesting to learn what others work on. Most meetings are a boring loss of time though. What I think is sad is that I feel many people in France actually expect the management to take the decisions, as if they did not want to take the risk of being responsible or upset the top management.
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Hi guys! First off: 👉 Click here to get 65% off LingoPie's annual subscription, plus they offer a 7-day free trial! learn.lingopie.com/unintentionallyfrenchified
And second: 👉 Throw my way all your thoughts/questions about workplace culture in France! Is it what you thought it would be? Do you agree/disagree with my experience? Catch you all below! Bises! ;)
Hi! Great video!
You mentioned that you'd link a video on finding jobs in France but it's not in your description box. Could you please comment with the link?
What a ridiculous question! I am neither French nor British but have worked in both countries. My experience is that, irrespective of regulations, the "cadres superiors" in France work long hours and work smart. Many Brits at the same level are the same but more Brits waste time with gossip and Fridays in the pub or wine bar. French high level workers speak English but very few Brits speak French...or English particularly well.
According to international studies, french people are amongst the 3 most productive people. More productive than german, japanese or american. But it is right we organize ourselves quite differently from other people.
About pauses, this is not only about networking, I am in IT, we use pauses in order to keep ourselves in touch with others people and team. So we have a better understanding of our work/project environnement and so our work is more valued and we may have important knowledge or knowledge that may be usefull.
Love the way you explain coffee breaks! Less about forced networking and more about getting a better understanding of other team's projects.
@@UnintentionallyFrenchified I've got a coffee maker in my office : it's a strategic tool. Most of the time, i get more informations from coffee breaks than in general meetings.
And breaks are good for your eyes as well when you work on a computer all day long
@@synkaan2167 Yes as none of us respects the healthy limits 😂
I'm out of Paris (Angers) and most people finish by 5:00pm, and almost never after 6:00pm. I choose to be at work very early in the morning (8:00 am) so I personnaly finish at 4:30pm. And, as you are, i'm paid per day and not per hour.
I feel that Paris puts a lot more pressure on workers to do very long days of work (I've worked both in Paris and in Province).
Interesting to have your point of view outside of Paris! In some of the companies/teams I worked in, I felt like being at the office and being seen was as important as your work being done. So people couldn't leave before 6 even if you had finished for the day. It was really frustrating.
@@UnintentionallyFrenchified I would also add that usually parisians start work later than in other cities (I guess it's because of the commute which is generally longer) but they end their day later..
It depends on the work you do and the time constraints it poses or not. I also work in Angers and my hours are more like 9h / 18h and sometimes later. Having been a Parisian for 36 years, the major difference is the travel time. I easily gain an hour of free time per day in Angers compared to Paris because of the less time spent in transport.
In Engineering or Business positions a very typically french Glass Ceiling may exist depending on the Grande Ecole you went to. There are "Centrale", "Mines/Ponts", "X" (Ecole Polytechnique) (for engineers) or "Dauphine", "ESSEC", "HEC" (for business) companies were upper levels are "reserved" to/by alumni of one of these particular school. And if you're dealing with government contracts having been at "Sciences Po", "Normale Sup" or the ENA (soon to be ISP) will help... It's less and less true but still quite present especially in very big companies. One way to breach it is doing a postgrade diploma at one moment in your career in one of these school "to enter the club".
What you said about meetings reminds me of my own assessment of frequent meetings in the place where I worked in the U.S. People loved to hear themselves talk. I noticed that the most frequent decision that came out of a meeting, usually in the final minutes, was to have another meeting! Ugh! When all was said and done, there was much more said than done.
haha the best, when a meeting is finished and we all decide we just need to have another meeting...
I'm Canadian and many of us don't take lunch, meaning we continue to work and eat at our desks or we run personal errands We do lunch with colleagues when we have conferences or a special event but it's not an every day occurrence to get 5 plus people together.
during breaks, we often talk about work, so it's not a waste of time. It also strengthens team cohesion. Would Americans confuse social and socialism ?
Watch out, some of them probably do..
The horrible thing about working in a big company or in the administration in France is the hierarchy. It is incredible the time and energy wasted in "nourishing" the hierarchy, so that it feels like it is doing something. French managers hate performing their managerial role, so they parasitize their employees by asking for non-stop "reporting" without it being used to move forward on anything or make effective decisions.
You've probably already seen or heard the following sentence: We work to live, we don't live to work. This is the key to understand the approach of the French, and more generally Europeans, towards work. So, when at work, we do work (unlike stereotypes pretend the French are rated to be highly productive), but when it's time to stop working, we do stop working and enjoy life - but there are exceptions of course, workoholics also exist. That's called work vs private life balance. Overworking people, or overworkgin yourself, only leads to unhappiness and burnouts, and in the end lack or loss of productivty for the employer, that's been proven; so, where's the benefit on both sides?
From what I've gathered a lot of jobs pay barely more that the minimum wage so tons of people just consider that they're not gonna work more that the bare minimum.
Also jobs are just there to give you money unless you're working at a job you're really passionate about (and like if you take accountants, if you consider the ratio of people working in this field vs how interesting the job can be, I'd say about 0.001% of the people working in that field are passionate and will put in more effort than their salary "deserves").
Generally most people would rather keep their energy for their life outside of work.
(If bosses wanted people to do more they'd try paying them more.)
Si je peux me permettre d'apporter mon opinion sur les 35h , je peux dire que lorsque la loi des 35h est passée en 2000 , notre profession a fait le travail des 39h de l'époque en 35h , ce qui revient à dire qu'il a fallu accélérer la cadence très sérieusement , les salaires ont été bloqué très longtemps . Je pourrais en raconté des pages . 🤨
Exact ce fut une ineptie doublée d'une catastrophe économique et humaine
Toulouse is also a good city for foreigners who don't speak french. As it is the capital of aeronautics, you usually work with companies outside of France.
And for the hours, it is very Parisian hours 9:30-10 to 6+ pm. ( I used to work In Paris) and to stay late just for people to see that we are still there even if we have finished our work for the day...
In toulouse, for my case it is very free but usually 9-5 pm
Yes love Toulouse. And Montpellier too.
Job security makes it so you can't boss people around by making them fear unemployment, you have to treat them like human beings and motivate them by making the workplace a nice place. If that is the worst thing about French workplace (which is not, Ofc) we are doing very well.
yes bro indeed
I’m French and what you said is totally accurate and true. I loved the part regarding meetings, I think it is really a French characteristic we love talking 🤣🤣 and sharing our point of views even if at the end we don’t take any decision, even for French people the amount of meetings at work is exhausting, I know French companies are trying to improve that. It is really interesting to see your point of view. 😊
Glad you enjoyed hearing my take on workplace culture! Totally agree that people are trying to improve those meetings! And one positive side of it is that everyone gets a chance to share their ideas :)
Excellent video Kate!! I'm French and I agree with you so much on the side effect of job security!! I've traveled in English-speaking countries a lot and maybe I picked up on the mindset as well but I can get so frustrated with some of my colleagues when they are not enthusiastic or dynamic enough in their daily tasks! I'm rooting for you on that one!! Concerning schedule, I'm a teacher (so French civil servant) so I start at 8 o'clock sharp (leave my house around 7.15-20 for the commute) and my day ends around 3 or 4 pm because we have shorter days in the teaching system in France.
Your schedule sounds way more like the American schedule! Most people work "8 to 5" jobs and teachers in the USA are more on a 7 am to 3/4 pm schedule like you. And glad to hear that you understand what I mean about being a bit more enthusiastic or dynamic!
i'm french, working in the south, and my job it's around 30h to over 70 hours a week, starting at 2 am , finish 4 -5 pm with 2h lunch break, or basic hours like 8am to 12 and 2pm to 7pm,other job u can work only at night, or 2x8 , 3x8 , 5x8 ( this will break your sleep habit , i hope you don't need a lot of sleeping )
As a french, and boss of a small IT company, working from very small to some vey big industries ( l'Oréal, Danone) i'm allways surprised how different are each society, their ethics, mood of their teams, organizations.
It's difficult to build rules, some can be really involved, efficient AND cool, some are playing a role, pretending to be rigorous with an exaggereted hierarchy, useless and never ending meetings... some are just a bunch of morrons.
Ooouuuh Largo Winch in the background! A video on Frenco-Belgian comic books in the future? ;)
Hi Kate! I love your videos! Could you do a video about your experiences with the French interview process? I know that might not all be exactly the same from company to company but maybe some of the things you’ve noticed generally. Thank you and have a great week!
Great! Interesting questions and picks up on real cultural differences. Cheers all the best to you!! 🇫🇷🇺🇸
I live in the south but still am unemployed because I don’t speak the language. Paris definitely seems to have a lot of opportunities. It would be so interesting to work here and see all the differences, thanks for going into all the details as always.
Have you received your new carte de séjour ?
Ha ha I am in the same page. Life is much better here, but need to consider moving to Paris for work.
Hi Sam! I feel ya, it was hard to get work in Paris as an intern when my french wasn't great. I'm sure living in a smaller town in the south makes things even harder. Stay focused on learning french and don't give up!!
I'm always thinking of how amazing it would be to live in the south. I want that sunshine year around!
@@UnintentionallyFrenchified it’s true! Welcome to Nice
I live outside Paris, in the South West. Office hours are 8:30 am to 6 pm, with a 1,5 hour break for lunch (some colleagues go back home to have lunch). In some companies it’s more 9am to 6pm with a 1 hour lunch break.
8:30 start sounds SO early to me after years in Paris! In reality, i'm up at 6 am with my daughter but still think an 8:30 start sounds early. haha
I love when companies include your lunch break in your 7 hour shift so you basically get paid to have lunch for an hour 😂
(This is an advice for foreigner as well as French) For the french writing (espacially the "conjugaison"/conjugations) I recently discovered that there are a lot of "grammar" (and conjugations) corrector online. And they are really helpful x') (I thought that franch conjugaison will be to complicate for software during at least the next decade but aparently not). I nearly forgot all I learned in school X') This is not really important in my job as a scientist, but for writing formal email, it can be important ^^"
You need to find the same for the English language now.
Love your videos (except for the long commercials).
When comparing salaries in Paris, versus big cities in the US, you said you have lower health care costs. I thought they take over 20% out of your pay for health care/social security??
I don’t know US but for your question, it is not 20% except if you consider taxes on income included. As a « barometer » you can remember that accommodation represent already about 30% of your income, then the 20% we spoke above, so already 50% is out. Then monthly wires from your various subscriptions and savings and finally your free money will represent 20-30%=
I like the French, but working with them is sometimes Hard. And I am Austrian not even German;) English is also a big problem, and my French is not THAT good most of the time. (But Italy is worse;) nordics r perfect to work with.
They're definitely not lazy, at least from what I've seen, but can't deny that for many French people their "work ethic" is not the same as in other countries (ie: some delivery people. I've had many a French delivery person that never come and or say they come and the door was blocked for them but they don't call for me to let them in, so annoying)
I'd say it's even more important to know French to work in France, more than what is recommended in this video, even in Paris. In order to work in a big company as only an English speaker you almost need a Master's or a Doctorate, and even then they expect you to still be studying French. I have 3 people in my French class that only work in English, they work for really big companies, but their companies insisted them to learn French, but at least the companies are paying for it.
Does France pay well.....? Uh............
Maybe not as well as the US for comparable jobs, but they don't need to when the infrastructure in France is better than in the States and a lot of stuff is already covered by taxes. Food service workers do usually get paid better though, lol
Over the pandemic when my spouse was working from home, I got to listen in on some of their meetings, not like stereotypical French meetings at all 😂😂😂😂. There was always an agenda and people only had a certain time to get what they want out. And if there is no resolution at then end of said meeting is not a good sign. The sector my spouse works in if they did a "typical" French meeting they would get in big trouble, lol, a lot of things riding it
Your first point is so funny because my video is next week is all the ridic crap that happens at La Poste and this is like my number 2 point. The delivery driver that came and "you weren't home," but you've been in your pjs watching netflix the whole day. Also let me know where your husband works because i would love to have only meetings that had a real agenda and a real decision at the end of every meeting hahaha!
@@UnintentionallyFrenchified lol, If I told you what my spouse did I'd have to kill ya, 😉, just kidding, but I'll just say it's in the public sector and they do research.
Merci beaucoup pour ce retour plus objectif et argumenté. Il y a beaucoup de problèmes dans le monde du travail en France, c'est vrai et on a des choses à améliorer (!) mais juger sur les faits c'est toujours mieux que de juger sur des rumeurs, des clichés (comme le salaire, il faut tenir compte de la santé "gratuite", de l'école gratuite etc., un pays c'est un tout). Et Paris reste Paris, ce n'est pas la France, donc : merci !
I'm French and I live and work in a Nordic country, they don't have the reputation to be lazy at all, but I can guarantee there are a lot of slackers, and probably more than in French companies in general. I guess this reputation of laziness is more of a urban legend or a cliché forged by Brits ans Americans since the work culture is not the same. It's true that there are some people pretending to work and avoiding anything that is not on their duty list, but I found it was quite universal. It's just that some French people don't give a damn if you tell loudly they should do their job. :-) Same for the post office, where I live, the post office is opened from 7.30 to 15.00, and never on Saturdays, they don't even distribute the mail on Saturdays, and very often, your package is not delivered at your door, although you paid for the delivery, you have to go to the collection point. And what's more, yes, it's twice more expensive than in France. Regrading salaries, some economists compared the real cost of life between USA and Western European countries, and although the wages are much lower on our side, after deducing the cost of healthcare, education, unemployment and even all the ghost "taxes" like tips that you have to give in the US, in the end, we basically have a higher income although we pay more taxes and work "less". I think I even read an article where they said that French workers are amongst the most productive in the world. For meetings, it's usually very relaxed, we discuss a lot and joke around to release the tension in the room, so obviously foreigners would think we are wasting time.
it's not that they don't do their job but they have something else to do and if they don't know you, they put you at the bottom of the to-do list
Great video. One suggestion: s-l-o-w down, please! A little bit. I need to process as I listen.
Do you know how to do slower playback? Just go to settings and you can just play it back at a slower speed.
Your day starts at 9 am ? I guess that you don' t work with Emily in Paris.. I can' t wrap my head around the fact that Eleonor is almost 2 yo.. Feel like yesterday when you said that you took your 4 months maternity leave and then went back to work ... for just a week and then lockdown lol Now she walks, she talks.. Finally, are you targeting a Loreal sponsor for your next videos with that hair??
French work smart, should be clever to work in many tech fields
Is it true that the French use butter when doing it from the back?
Is there a glass ceiling if you don't have a French last name? I'm asking this about both Paris and Montreal.
"I'm frustrated when French people won't do their job." I feel like that's exactly why there's a stereotype about laziness
I've seen people of different nationalities (including Americans) not doing their jobs... it depends on the individuals, not their country of origin.
I'm surprised because I've heard this "some French people don't want to do their work unless you have some kind of relationship with them" from both you and Rosie, and I've never encountered this in France - I mean, in my experience, some people did not want to work and no amount of networking/having coffee with them would change that, but the vast majority of people did do their jobs, and nothing less would have been accepted from them by their management...
it's not that they don't do their job but they have something else to do and if they don't know you, they put you at the bottom of the to-do list
@@Sigfried2708 There are also people (especially executives) who make their job more complicated than it should be to give themselves importance.
I needed this video
Hi, just reporting a little technical issue : the background of your video is sharp and you are a bit blurry. I've seen this in a lot of your videos, so you might want to look into it. Otherwise good job as usual.
Le problème de "la bise", si tant est que cela en soit un, ne se pose plus avec les gestes barrières. Et puis cela varie selon les entreprises et même les services dans une entreprise. Et puis personne n'a jamais été contraint à faire la bise si cela ne lui convient pas, il suffit de le dire à ses collègues.
Il faudrait que les américains comprennent que pour les Français (et d'autres en Europe) On travaille pour vivre, pas l'inverse. J'admets que la "réunionite" est une maladie bien française mais CONFUCIUS n’a-t-il pas dit "De la discussion nait la lumière".
Right - I've never done la bise in any of my jobs, it totally depends on the people/the company's culture...
Also, personally I had TONS of meetings at my job in the US but very few in my French jobs :)
You are really super! I like to listen those stories helpful Informations! How could i do without? And before we didn t have video internet, so we misslead us .how couldn t be enjoyed with watching and listening your videos? We got the manual how to do?
First of all, I love your videos and I’m so grateful you put your time and effort to make them so good.
The “lazy” answer conflicts a little bit with your previous one (about having to networking to get things done). My experience is that there’s a lot of very competent French people who also suffer with the ones who feel so secure at work that they do the minimum, at the lowest speed possible. Is this laziness? 😉
I’ve also known people who had the potential to make more money in another job but are too comfortable in that mediocre position, or already used to that group of people, so they’ll never explore what they could accomplish.
Cheers
Hi Andre! Totally agree that in France jobs are so secure that some people don't explore other opportunties because they are in their comfort zone. And sometimes it's a mediocre comfort zone.
I get what you're saying about the not being lazy conflicting with the need to network to get things done. I guess I wouldn't group the two together because in my mind, the people that aren't for example helping me even though it's their job, are doing other things. They aren't neccessarily just sitting around doing nothing, they just won't prioritize my need unless they know me. Not sure if it's clear but I peronsally wouldn't call the french lazy when it came to work.
@@UnintentionallyFrenchified ah, now I got you. And I agree 🙂
I wonder if the complacency in their work that you describe comes from the culture the French are alleged to have - that they don’t “live to work” the way Americans do? I’m American and it does feel like we are expected to devote our lives to our work and “climb the ladder” or we are not successful by many people’s standards.
I’d also like to argue that I have worked with many a person who is not motivated - people who will make your job harder because they are lazy or too comfortable or the CEO’s nephew that failed out of college but got that corner office job 🤔
@@Chelseyandfam I’d like to add that most of my professional experience was acquired in global companies headquartered in “America”, and I believe that there are different “Americas” inside the US. I worked in California, Georgia, Connecticut, and New Jersey, and I’ve witnessed the stereotype of working harder than average in the Northeast only.
meh, some people just work to get the money and stability to do what they want in their hobbies. Tons of people don't have a big salary for a job that would deserve it. Like if you're gonna get paid the minimum possible, you're gonna work the minimum possible too and keep your energy for stuff that deserves it aka your life outside of work.
Très intéressant !
Thank you! Merci merci!
The dislikes are from people who want to work in France without learning French 😅😆
Pour n'avoir connu qu'un pays où travailler (la france), je peux dire que je n'aime pas du tout commet cela se passe. Trop de pauses, une pause à midi trop longue, la hiérarchie est lourde et cela peut être difficile de gravir les échelons. Je trouve qu'il manque de flexibilité dans les horaires, je préfère arriver tôt et partir tôt mais cela n'a jamais été accepté. Le processus de recrutement est très long et les recruteurs ne jurent que par les diplômes et les expériences. Quand on sort de l'université cela est compliqué de trouver un premier job même un deuxième car personne ne veut nous donner une chance. Pour les études que j'ai fait, je suis très mal payée. Cela dépend des secteurs mais bcp de français ne sont pas payés à la hauteur de ce qu'il devrait. Il y a aussi bcp de personnes comme tu dis qui font le minimum au travail mais qui vont rester tard car c'est bien vu. Je trouve cet aspect des horaires bien triste
Working in US was more relaxing than in France. But you understand why french business owners are mostly nervous. See the tax French have to pay. French owner pay you income twice because taxes. That,s why US business owners were more "cool" than French.... and in France I worked mostly 44h/Weeks, compare to US at all time 40H. Also, I was extremely lucky to work 4 the first time in US with a super cool business owner.
Good video !
damn french are hella smart i work 40 hours+ its very unhealthy in the long run especially in night shift
Comment va tu? 💓💓💓
You must speak french for a job in FRance.
Seriously : What s wrong ?
try a job in french in Chicago...everybody speak english or spanish (perhaps german...but not french)
I work for a global "owned by the state" company, and I LOATHE meetings. Most of them are mandatory, and to my point of view kinda useless. 3 to 5 one-hour-meeting each week.
We have a joke with my colleagues :
" And what did we learn today ? " , " That, we'll find out in another year ". Or " That X got pregnant, and Y doesn't use the template he/she's supposed to " 😜😂
Once I even had a meeting to prepare... The next meeting. Not joking !
hahahaha i love the the once i even had a meeting to prepare for the next meeting. That's a vicious cycle I am VERY aware of!
Can u talk about gay life in France ? Merci
on which platforms would you recommend to look for jobs?
I am tired
I need to learn french. I wanna use your link but can’t find your video. Please help
HI Marisol! Link in the UA-cam Description!
from 6:50 and a to follow in chapter 2, I need to disagree with what you are asking for, because it is what I heard in an american company and it's why I quit that company! in France, whatever you do, you are working in a team , even this mentality is vanishing years after years, and it is something I definately regret, because it is the way I consider a job ! I am retired now, but I will never accept a management like this, and it is something my american wife don't understand either. " Do your job and shut up" ( It is not exactly what you said, but it can be understand like this ) forget it here !
I think the difference is that I wouldn't say that I have felt working in France that we "are always working in a team." I personally feel like invidual success is as important as team success. And due to that, when people are prioritizing their to do list, they either prioritize based on what is best for them or the people they know, but not necessarily what their job description says. But again, maybe it's just the experiences I've had?
And is it true that the French go for a ( quicky ) in lunch break ?
Is that a Midwest thing? Pronouncing especially as "exxpeschially" instead of "essspecially"?
Nope! NOT a Midwest thing.
Actually it is a Northern Illinois/Wisconsin thing. I am from central Illinois and correct my Northern Illinois son-in-law every time 😂 (he also says expresso instead of espresso).
Yay here for my first like!
Duh I should have been listening further into the video!!! Lol
The out of focus is so distracting!
why would you have less than 5 weeks vacation in the 21st century?
btw, call yourself an immigrant, not expat. not only brown people are immigrants.
You are like "Emily in Paris".. :)
haha if only I had her wardrobe!
@@UnintentionallyFrenchified to be fair I don't think Emily herself can afford that wardrobe, plus you are fully integrated to the society :)
I'm French and I think French people are lazy. I have always worked on saturdays. I'm a postman. When I ask to people wether they would like to work as a postman, they say "No" because you have to work on Saturdays... I could understand if you were 40 with a wife and two children... But when you are 20...
when you're 20 a lot of activities are only available on the week-end which, weirdly enough includes Saturdays
Un facteur qui dit que les autres salariés français sont feignants? j'aurai tout vu...
@@jean-noelthomas viens travailler avec moi et on en reparlera
@@aleajactaest4246 Je n'ai pas le temps, Je suis autoentrepreneur et mon entreprise est ouverte 9 h par jour au public ( de 9h à 18h en continu), je travaille les samedi matin sur RDV, et je commence 1h avant ouverture pour préparer et 1 h après pour ranger Arrête de chouiner: un mec de la Poste aurait mon emploi du temps il se serait suicidé depuis des années pour burnout....
là par exemple il est 7h 26 du matin et je suis en train de préparer la journée... qui finira officiellement à 18h. Sauf si un job m'oblige à rester un peu.
Tous les français ne sont pas des employés qui râlent autour de la machine à café. Même s'il y en a.
Les postiers m'ont toujours fait rigoler, comme les employés des chemins de fer...
Sérieux t'as essayé un autre métier au moins?
J'ai été 2 ans fonctionnaire d'Etat, et c'est justement la mentalité qui m'a fait fuir. J4ai démissionné et je suis parti apprendre mon métier.
tu connais les 35 h ?????( sauf les cadres supérieur font plus de 35h
oublie pas quand en FRANCE en parle en Français
pas en anglais
Les Français n'aimes pas trop qu 'ont leurs parle en Anglais en France
7:42 This 35 h week was such a stupid political reform that basically nobody asked and was supposed to lower the unemployment rate. For years I have heard the top management say : no salary raise this year because of the 35 h. But we had to do exactly the same job than before. Maybe for factory workers who work on shift it was a gain. But for most employees, only a lack of purchasing power after several years. Thus the lower salary at the end.
13:11 OMG, I am french and I hate the « bise » thing with colleagues. Don’t even get me started with 4 times instead of 2 🤣 Even in my family we do it only when we reunite when we have not seen each other for some time, but definitely not on a daily basis.
13:26 Both formal and hierarchical. Formal because of the structure of the language, which was set by the aristocracy. Hierarchical because when you think at key famous French leaders, you think at Napoleon Bonaparte or Charles de Gaulle: military men who had a huge impact on the organization of the country. Even the most prestigious diploma in France is from École Polytechnique, a military academy. So you basically get the idea about France. 🤣🤣🤣
15:35 Totally agree, meetings are some sort of networking thing. It’s interesting to learn what others work on. Most meetings are a boring loss of time though. What I think is sad is that I feel many people in France actually expect the management to take the decisions, as if they did not want to take the risk of being responsible or upset the top management.