The French Struggle to Assimilate Their Youth into the Workforce. We Don’t. Why?
PREQUEL: S.O.B. Alliance member NixGuy had a nice post on this topic last night (but I had it scheduled for posting first, really, didn’t I, EUR? — Ed.), including great descriptions of the barriers employers face in ridding themlselves of marginal employeers.
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Hundreds of thousands of French twentysomethings and their organized labor sympathizers who are marching, demonstrating, inflicting mayhem, and even threatening a general strike because they don’t want jobs where their employer has the right to fire them without cause in their first two years of work. Let’s assume for the moment that they are legitimately worried about their long-term economic well-being. I know, it’s a stretch, but stay with me.
If so, they ought to look at how US college graduates, obviously predominantly in their 20s and just entering the full-time career market, are faring (HT hiatused EU Rota):
Best job market in 5 years for grads: report
Mon Mar 20, 2006 11:35 AM ETWASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. college graduates are facing the best job market since 2001, with business, computer, engineering, education and health care grads in highest demand, a report by an employment consulting firm showed on Monday.
“We are approaching full employment and some employers are already dreaming up perks to attract the best talent,” said John Challenger, chief executive of Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
In its annual outlook of entry-level jobs, Challenger, Gray & Christmas said strong job growth and falling unemployment makes this spring the hottest job market for America’s 1.4 million college graduates since the dot-com collapse in 2001.
The firm pointed to a survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers which showed employers plan to hire 14.5 percent more new college graduates than a year ago.
The survey also found higher starting salaries this year. Graduates with economic or finance degrees will see the biggest gain with starting salaries up 11 percent to $45,191, while accounting salaries are up 6.2 percent, business management salaries up 3.9 percent and pay for civil engineers 4.3 percent higher.
But Challenger said graduates should not assume the improved labor market will guarantee everyone a job.
Ah, but there’s the rub. French twentysomethings would rather wait years for a guaranteed job (with much less mobility) than just get on with it and start working and building a resume. One suspects that the generous French social-welfare benefits system makes that decision easier, whereas the US has no safety-net fallback for a perfectly healthy college grad holding out for the perfect job (except moving back in with the folks, I suppose).
So French unemployment stays stuck at about twice the level of the US, while hundreds of thousands of people in their prime working years gripe about the very possibility of having to work under non-guaranteed conditions.
Sort of explains our diverging economies, doesn’t it?
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UPDATE: This BBC report says that the national strike is set for March 28.
It’s actually worse than that when you think about it. The young kids who actually want to do something have a choice of a. Waiting for a job in a french economy. b. Move to the US, or UK, or somewhere else where they can find a job now.
So the French pool of workers will be more and more self selecting toward those who want guaranteed benefits with no effort.
Atlas Shrugged anyone? Who is John Galt?
Comment by dave — March 21, 2006 @ 11:45 am
Yup, the old “voting with their feet” thing rears it “ugly” (actually beautiful) head again.
The adverse selection point is very important.
The John Galt I am aware of is a commenter at FreeRepublic who as I recall is very antiunion.
Comment by TBlumer — March 21, 2006 @ 12:08 pm