And a recent study quoted by Le Monde yesterday suggests that companies seem to increasingly avoid the cumbersome procedures set in the law for "licenciement pour motif économique" (firing for economic reasons) by resorting to "licenciement pour motif personnel" (firing for personal reasons) - essentially, negotiated contract interruption with the worker, with a severance payment and an agreement by the worker not to use.

French companies that want to get rid of people do it - all evidence poitns that way.

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes