While the French continue to stage mass protests against changes to their employment laws, hundreds of thousands of their compatriots have voted with their feet and come to work in Britain.
Figures now suggest that -- contrary to popular perception -- there may be more French people living in Britain than there are British in France. Since 1999, about 15,000 French have moved to Britain each year while 10,000 British have gone the other way, according to figures from the UK's Office for National Statistics.
About two-thirds of the French moving to Britain are under 36, and three-quarters are single. They are often qualified mathematicians or engineers. Many head for well-paid work in London.
"Salaries are higher than in France and can grow quickly," said Samuel Remy, a French man working for the travel group Travco.
"Pay rises every year and bonuses depending on your performance are generally the case. This has to be set against the cost of living of London -- above all housing and transport," he said.
France's youth unemployment rate is around 23 percent, rising to 50 percent in young immigrant communities -- a crucial factor behind last year's riots in many areas. France's overall unemployment rate tops 9 percent, compared with 5 percent in the UK.
Besides this, the British economy has been reasonably successful at creating new jobs -- 2.4 million of them since 1997 -- and jobs in the UK tend to be better paid. Wages have been rising strongly in Britain for the past decade, but have stagnated in France.
The French consulate in London thinks there may be 300,000 to 400,000 French living in Britain today. The UK Foreign Office estimates that 300,000 British are living permanently in France, excluding second-home owners.
But while British in France are widely dispersed across the country, about 70 percent of French in the UK are in Greater London, according to the French consulate. Of those, about half work in financial services.
Celine Abadie, 28, came to London two months ago and within weeks was offered three jobs, of which she chose one at a public relations firm, NewsMarket.
"Right now in France the market is damp for jobs. I have friends who have been looking for work for six months," she said. "I love London -- it's so dynamic and cosmopolitan. Because of my job, I don't plan to leave here for at least five years. Friends told me that Paris is too narrow for me. The quality of life here is good. You can do a lot and enjoy a nice life."
Arnaud Chevalier, an academic at the London School of Economics, agreed. "I can only speak for academics," he said. "But we think the standard of work is higher in the UK: conditions are better; pay is better. These are the main reasons for people coming here. French universities are grotty."
The typical experience of French people in Britain is that they can find work quickly and in jobs not necessarily related to the subjects they studied, as is common among young Britons. In France, by contrast, graduates expect to find work in the field they studied.
"What I really like about the UK job market is it's more open in that they do not look so much at your schooling but value your past experience. It's also closer to the job market in the US for students trying to find work globally," said Francois Desmonts, head of the French Club at the London Business School.
Pascale Dauptain, 30, a business development director at FBC Media, said she loved living in London and now considered it home.
"It's dynamic and extremely international. I think people come here to make their way and find jobs. If the job's not right you can move very quickly. It's not even comparable to Paris. I recommend moving here all the time to my friends," she said.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia
ON ALERT: A Russian cruise missile crossed into Polish airspace for about 40 seconds, the Polish military said, adding that it is constantly monitoring the war to protect its airspace Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and the western region of Lviv early yesterday came under a “massive” Russian air attack, officials said, while a Russian cruise missile breached Polish airspace, the Polish military said. Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a series of deadly aerial attacks, with yesterday’s strikes coming a day after the Russian military said it had seized the Ukrainian village of Ivanivske, west of Bakhmut. A militant attack on a Moscow concert hall on Friday that killed at least 133 people also became a new flash point between the two archrivals. “Explosions in the capital. Air defense is working. Do not