Work

Moving to France and need to earn a living? Be inspired and stay informed with our in-depth guides to employment and running your own business, as well as real-life stories and work-related news updates.

Two million workers in France to receive boost to driving tax credit

Drivers can access this credit – which has been increased by 10% – if they cover a certain distance in their vehicle for work each year

20 proposals put forward to improve status of self-employed in France

Improved social protection, taxes and simplified administrative procedures are among ledges from the government for 2022

Meet the last traditional makers of the Parisian café chair

Paris would not be Paris without its terrace bars and cafés with their signature rattan chairs. When Alexis Dyèvre took on Maison Gatti in 2019, he felt he was buying a small part of the French capital

Reader experiences: What it is like to be your own boss in France

With Covid raging in 2020, record numbers of workers opted to start their own businesses and the trend is growing this year. We look at the different ways of finding freedom at work in France and talk to those who have made the step

A guide to micro-entrepreneurs in France

Who can become an auto-entrepreneur? What is the annual turnover ceiling? How do micro-entreprises pay income tax and social charges and what benefits are they entitled to?

Many jobs in French ski resorts on offer to English speakers

Brexit has made recruitment harder for UK residents wanting to work the ski season – but there are opportunities for English-speakers already living in France or the EU to do the jobs instead

Europe's only elephant sanctuary in France welcomes first resident

An ageing zoo elephant called Gandhi has become the first inhabitant of a groundbreaking retirement home after nine years of work to get it open

French producer: ‘Foie gras can only be made if you love geese’

There are few foie gras producers in France where everything is done on the farm. Florian Boucherie runs ferme auberge La Garrigue Haute in Dordogne

Canned wine expands in France

A drinks can-filling factory famous for Cacolac chocolate milk is using excess capacity to produce canned wine

Meet the shamanic (spiritual) drum maker in Dorodgne

Only five percussion makers exist in the entire country, according to the Institut National des Métiers d’Art, and Louisa Vinciarelli thinks she is the only one who makes her instruments from scratch

French ‘hybrid’ wine barrel made of clay and wood 'is the future'

Some winemakers in France and abroad have been experimenting with clay fermentation vessels, similar to the amphoras used by ancient Romans

French olives: Quality over quantity

As olive pickers in France set about gathering this year’s harvest, we meet a leading producer and head of the growers’ profession, France Olive

Brocante vendors in France limited to just two events a year

As brocantes and vide-greniers start to animate towns and villages again, warnings have been issued that individuals can sell at only two events per year

‘I am still captivated by the magic of my stained glass windows work’

The world of restoring stained glass windows is still a masculine one, but this did not stop Audrey Rogers from becoming a Maître Verrier, despite being told several times she was too small and would never succeed

Are protective solar panels the future for French vineyards?

A harvest of grapes grown under a huge protective grid of solar panels has been declared 'at least as good' as those cultivated in the traditional way

Pay gap means women in France start working ‘for free’ from today

EU statistics suggest that on average women earn 16.5% less than men, leading feminist newsletter Les Glorieuses to petition France’s presidential candidates for change

Macron promises up to €500 for jobless young who agree to training

People aged 16-25 who have been out of work or not on training schemes for some time could be eligible for the monthly sum. The president gave more details today

French photographers are winners when it comes to capturing nature

For the first time, Frenchman and biologist Laurent Ballesta dons the title of Wildlife Photographer of the Year, whilst 15-year-old Emelin Dupieux’s entry received highly commended

What is the ‘Macron Bonus’ for workers in France and who can benefit?

This exceptional one-off payment is especially intended this year to help cashiers, delivery drivers and others classed as ‘second-line’ workers exposed to Covid risks

Mountain refuge in France seeks guardian - must like crowds

The Aigle refuge, nestled in the middle of a series of peaks in Les Ecrins, is looking for a guardian for the 2022 summer season

Artisan soap maker: 'After six years, it still gives me a thrill’

Anne Handel is one of around a hundred artisanal soap makers in France. She talks about her craft, which she gets a great deal of pleasure from

Hotel bed linen gets a second life in novel French recycling company

Edwige Ciria travelled the world staying in luxury hotels on business trips spotted a gap in the market for the linen they use in their bedrooms and bathrooms and on tables