HRevolution

I've been reading with fascination about the labor issues in France. It appears that, despite low population growth they have a different talent war. Instead of dealing with shortages, as we are, their talent is at war with the government. I feel like I'm watching a car accident - I don't want to stare but can't look away.

Here's the deal - in response to a recent law which would make it easier to fire workers under 26, French workers are throwing a fit. The law is aimed at increasing employment among young people by lowering the obstacles to firing them if they don't work out. There is chronic unemployment among this group. But the French workforce sees this as an assault on their right to lifetime employment, characterizing any situation with the potential for job loss as precarious. (Are French workers so lame that without protection they would be fired en masse?) The protests imply such fear among workers that you have to wonder about their culture. We've become accustomed to the lack of loyalty between companies and employees. We have learned that moving from one employer to another can have an upside. Indeed, most of us seek upward mobility on some level; and we know there is always some risk. Perhaps, as a generation, we've always been aware of employment risks. Perhaps we have less fear because our economy continues to grow - or perhaps it grows due to freedom of movement among workers.

I do know this, when you stay in a job too long it becomes dull. Productivity declines (even if our capacity grows). We've all been there. We know what uninspired production creates: mediocrity. When you place widespread mediocrity in the context of an entire workforce, you doom your local economy to mediocrity. This cultural difference, opting for safety and mediocrity over risk with an upside, has Darwinian implications in the larger economy. In casting their vote, French talent has declared war on raising expectations. A victory wins the right for every citizen to live a quiet life of desperation. Meanwhile the global economy steadily pulls away, and a proud nation matters less and less in the world.