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.
North Korea blew up sections of roads in its own territory that are part of links once used to connect the southern part of the peninsula with the north, in a show of defiance after it accused Seoul of flying drones over Pyongyang. North Korea detonated bombs north of its eastern and western borders at around noon yesterday, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said. South Korea’s military later fired off warning shots within its border, said the JCS, which also confirmed there were no reports of damage in South Korea from the detonations. A video released by the South Korean
It is usually a serene two-and-a-half-hour ride on Japan’s famously efficient bullet train, but on Saturday, the journey quickly descended into a zombie apocalypse, with passengers screaming in terror. Organizers of the adrenaline-filled trip, less than two weeks before Halloween, touted it as the world’s first haunted house experience on a running Shinkansen. On board one chartered car of the Shinkansen, about 40 thrill-seekers were ready to brave an encounter with the living dead between Tokyo and the western metropolis of Osaka. The eerie experience was inspired by the hit 2016 South Korean action-horror movie Train to Busan, in which a father and
A member of chart-topping K-pop group NewJeans yesterday tearfully testified to South Korean lawmakers as part of an inquiry into workplace harassment, amid a boardroom drama over her super producer. In recent years, South Korea’s K-pop industry has become a global juggernaut powered by the success of groups like BTS, but domestically it is known for imposing strict standards and controls on fledgling stars. Rising K-pop idols are expected to adhere to their powerful agency’s behavior and appearance guidelines, with many stars describing receiving extreme backlash from fans over perceived mistakes in their personal lives, for example dating. Hanni, 20, who is
IRANIAN THREATS: Revolutionary Guards chief Hossein Salami said that it would be a ‘mistake’ for Israel to attack Iran and if it did ‘we will strike you again painfully’ Israel yesterday bombed a Syrian coastal city, while the US conducted multiple strikes on targets in Yemen nearly a month into Israel’s war with Hezbollah in Lebanon. Syria, the Houthi rebels in Yemen, Hezbollah and Hamas in Gaza all belong to the so-called “axis of resistance” led by Iran, which on Oct. 1 conducted a missile strike on Israel. Israel has vowed to retaliate for the strike. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards chief Hossein Salami yesterday said in a speech that Tehran would hit Israel “painfully” if it attacks Iranian targets. “If you make a mistake and attack our targets, whether in the region or in