Month: November 2020

Categories
Uncategorized

20 Best Cities/Towns of France to live & work

Lyon
  • Have you ever though about France?
  • For holidays, maybe.
  • What about 5 years holidays?
  • What about living & working there?

Here are for you 20 of the best towns of France where it’s good to live & work:

  • Rennes
  • Clermont-Ferrand
  • Lyon
  • Bordeaux
  • Montpellier
  • Tours
  • Grenoble
  • Annecy.
  • Angers
  • Brest
  • Strasbourg
  • Nantes
  • Toulouse
  • Nice
  • Lille
  • Dijon
  • Metz
  • Orleans
  • Nancy
  • Rouen

A little thing about Paris & Ile-de-France

  • The capital is an amazing place to be, especially if you’re from outside of Europe.
  • However, in the last few decades many French workers (cadres) have began to massively quit Paris & Ile-de-France.
  • If you are moving to France because you went there on travels and find the country expensive, try towns & cities like Toulouse, Bordeaux or Dijon.
  • The metropolises experience multiple issues with Safety & Transportations systems.
  • Same for the other large Metropolises, such as Marseilles.

About the Cities/Towns in the list

  • Most of the Cities/Towns in the following list offer services & amenities comparable to those offered in metropolises.
  • Culture & Education are central policies, they all host a least 1 State University and in most cases private schools (‘Ecoles supérieurs’).
  • They all hold a Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, large-scale hospital linked to a university.
  • The transportation web is consistant & performant.
  • Real estate is reasonable & infrastructures are good.
  • Safety is also more sustainable assured, since they are less populated & the amount of agent per citizen is higher.

Why live in these Cities/Towns?

  • The Quality of Life & High is the atmosphere is highly desirable.
  • Most of them are close to the sea, the mountain, or both in some cases.
  • Climate is soft & the place is sunny most of the year. 
  • Environmental condition are superior to most of the country, wherever it is air quality carbon footprint, or low amount of hazardous industrial sites.
  • Waste management is greener & Cycling is becoming the norm.
  • The use of concrete is limited. 
  • Again, transportation is more modern & more up to date to the newest policies in terms of sustainable Urbanisme.
  • The TGV lines are dispatched to connect to airports.
  • The 4G cover is good.
  • The transition to 5G has began. 
  • Real estate is reasonably priced, wherever it is rental or buying.
  • Culture & Entertainment, including restoration, are on par with those of metropolises.
  • Education is the prior public policy, there’s a large choice of high schools & Universities.
  • It is easier to access to a general practitioner, a dentist, or other specialized medical practitioners.
  • Safety is assured, with access to many Police stations & Gendarmeries bureau.
  • Every one of them has at least 1 Precinct, and most of them have more than 3.

Why Work in these Cities/Towns?

  • Employment market is sturdy, with many new jobs offers flourishing.
  • Unemployment rate is low & is getting lower as more people move in.
  • Most white-collar jobs have a faster career progression.
  • Structures Financing businesses have a low barrier to entry.
  • Construction/Civil engineering & Real Estate are 2 of the biggest sectors that attract people creating a snowball effect: more people in, more buildings & roads needed.
  • Subsequently, Industrial & Retail Real Estate tend to see their prices rapidly diminish even if they are still consequent.
  • The same effect has not be witnessed yet on Office real estate, where Teleworking is an advantageous alternative.
  • There are more High-Tech companies than anywhere else in the country, compared to the number of inhabitant.
  • This enhances the development of sectors such as Web/Mobile development, Digital marketing & Graphic Design.
  • This encourages the implementation of Teleworking in companies.
  • There’s a large number of students & specializations are diversified, so are career paths. 
  • Young Bachelors & Masters degrees owners find a job easily.
  • R&D is rising. 
  • Most of the population is well-off & consumption rate is high, wherever is domestic or from tourists.
  • The number of hotels is high. 

The case of Rennes : an emerging metropolis

  • The top city of western France in term of Life Quality.
  • Almost 90% of Rennes inhabitants recommend their city to a person willing to move.
    • Housing is inexpensive.
    • Transportation may become more congested as Rennes becomes quite popular.
    • Atmosphere is great with high environmental quality, and a very clement climate.
  • A welcoming Employment market in most sectors.
    • Dynamism is high relatively to the rest of the country.
  • Cost of Life is low to medium depending on the district you live in.
  • Entertainment is diverse, and parks are plentiful.
    • Museums, Art galleries & Cinemas are promoted by the inhabitant and many value offers exist.
    • Restaurants & Snack bars are on par with those of metropolises.
  • Services are responsive & Infrastructures are of high quality.
    • The City possess a CHU & multiple Hospitals.
    • The University is one of the city’s pride.
    • Education is 1 of Rennes top strengths.

The Case of Lyon: Mature & Large and even more attractive

Jardins des Curiosités, Lyon
  • Lyon may be a tricky 1.
  • It quite a large metropolis, developed & presenting some issues of the larger metropolises (traffic, safety, pollution).
  • Even so, more than 80% of its inhabitant would recommend it to someone willing to move.
  • Another city with such high recommendation ratio is Strasbourg.
  • Strasbourg is an eastern France city, rapidly developing, close to the German border & highly integrated in the European development.
  • Meaning that the Lyonais (Lyon’s inhabitant) are highly confident in the attractiveness of their city.
  • It is still considered 1 of the best alternatives to Paris is you want to live in a metropolis.
  • Wherever you are a domestic or a foreign investor.
  • Multiple European & International have installed a division or a subsidiary in Lyon.
  • Lyon is a large metropolis which knows how to adapt to remain attractive.
  • Not as much as the emerging cities & town but more than the other metropolises.
  • Many entrepreneurs & experienced professionals, especially foreigners, may want to turn to Lyon for bigger businesses opportunities.

The case of Annecy: to keep in mind

Annecy
  • Annecy possess an ideal geographical localisation.
  • The atmosphere & Climate are some of the best in France.
  • Unemployment is very low.
  • Buying power is very high.
  • This is partly due to the fact that a consequent wedge of its population is working in Swiss where salaries are globally higher.
  • Other Cities/Towns by the German/Swiss border function on a comparable model.
  • This capital injection tends to rise Real Estate’s prices but also population creating to the aforementioned snowballing effect.
  • So, we may see a rise of the Construction sector in Annecy in the upcoming years.
Annecy
Categories
Uncategorized

Ever thought about Teleworking in France?

You can do teleworking anywhere.
Why in France?

  • The Very nature of Teleworking does not attach you to any country.
  • Why choose France then?
  • In many countries Managers, HR directors & executives have acknowledge it, and it is great.
  • In France, the State has acknowledged it.
  • In a press release released on March 16, 2020, the Ministère du Travail (Ministry of Labour) declared that 4/10 jobs in France are now compatible with teleworking.
  • Not should, nor could, ARE.

80% of HR Directors & Managers want to implement Teleworking in the long term.

  • Teleworking will improve work conditions in the long run.
  • A fourth of the employees may become Teleworkers for 2 days a week in the near future.
  • Teleworking is an opportunity to reduce costs & gain in productivity says the majority of French HR Directors.
  • Why?
  • They realized employees adapt fast to the agile method of project management.
  • Almost 2/3 of them are convinced that the Informatics/Logistics costs will be minor and largely compensated by the gains in Real Estate occupation & upkeep.
  • They also consider that Teleworking will boost their attractiveness while allowing them satisfying their customers more easily.

How will it be implemented?

  • Most HR managers propose the redaction of a Charter (charte de télétravail).
  • This Charter will fix the practices & procedures to adopt in order to prevent the most important issues of Teleworking:
    • The reduction of belonging feeling.
    • The reduction of cohesion.
    • Psycho-social risks.
  • A rotating system, on a 2 days a week basis, should help to prevent most of these.
  • Other measures, such as a personal monitoring, and on-the-job support & feedback are also in preparation.
  • Most of the functions in companies can be turned into the Teleworking process in the near future.
  • Although, there is 1 domain where Teleworking will be difficult to implement: logistics.

The New Management

  • Managers will be implemental in the implementation of teleworking.
  • A shift from management per task, judged too rigid, to management per objectives is already viewed as necessary in the current business development.
  • According to managers in french industries & B2C businesses teleworking could be the greatest opportunity to develop new product management & marketing practices attuned to the end consumers needs in terms of reshaping.
  • Marketing professionals from Orange Business Service already declare that management via teleworking would be a definitive way to attract & retain customers, namely the inner customer: the employee.
  • According to managers & executives the economy of resources (e.g. time & money), the synergy between planning & implementing help employees to do more and therefore see the end-goal sooner.
  • Teleworking is a door to more meaning-visible work.
  • According to multiple Work Barometers realized since 2015, more than 70% of the French population wants to work at home.
    • Managers & executives have begin to acknowledged it.
  • More than 90% of HR responsables interrogated know that teleworking will crack open the actual managerial practices to give birth to new ones.
  • The managers post-Covid will become a skills-developer.
  • This will be achieved by developing Competence Charters & increasing feedback between executives & team members as well as dialogue between services.

Remote working & Teleworking

  • You’re convinced you want to become a Teleworker in France?
  • Now you need to know which sectors & jobs are about to see this change happen the fastest.
  • Generally speaking, IT, Finance, Law, HR & Marketing are more encline to be executed remotely.

Sectors

  • The principals sectors that will experience Teleworking in France the fastest are Digital Marketing, Web/Mobile development, Machine Learning, Financial services, and many other IT based services.
Web/Mobile Development & Machine Learning
  • Web/Mobile & Machine Learning software Developer.
    • These jobs benefit from a huge leverage for teleworking since they are highly sough after (‘metier en tension’).
    • Furthermore, the nature of the job allows you to telework more easily.
  • UX/UI Designer
    • The same goes for the App Designer.
    • Wherever it is prototype creation, tests, feedback implementation, all that is required is reliable communication tools for the job to be exercised remotely.
Digital Marketing
  • Community Manager
    • The Brand ambassador.
    • Engage & animate communities.
    • One of the most “teleworkable” jobs.
  • Digital Artist
    • Realizes the commercial bundle.
    • Naturally inclined to teleworking, as a contractor or as an employee.
  • Web Editor (‘Rédacteur web’)
    • Responsible of the editorial content of the brand.
    • Coordinates the creation of the content published on the official website.
  • Translator
    • That’s an integral part of marketing.
    • It takes a lot of culture & context knowledge to perform a proper localization campaign.
    • Translators, you are marketers.
Financial services
  • Accountant
    • The computerization of documents & the development of tax/accounting softwares has transformed the accounting profession in less than 20 years.
    • The closing of the annual accounts, preparations of tax returns or pay slips can now be carried out remotely.
  • Actuary
    • Ever dreamed of becoming a risk manager?
    • The actuary is specialized in corporate risk management.
    • Often practiced in insurance, finance & strategy, this profession is open to remote work, if you have a few years of background.
Online Teachers
  • Because you have to learn all these skills.
  • And if you have the knowledge already, you’ll need more.
  • Wherever it is a Trainer, a Mentor, or a Coach online service become plentiful.
  • You can access courses via platform such as Udemy or Skillshare, but many Teacher have their own course & their own private group.

Categories
Uncategorized

Ever thought about Working in France?

  • Want to work lesser hours, more focused, more intensely?
  • Wish you had more time for your friends & family while developing a side business?
  • Want to change of atmosphere?
  • Think your skills are under-appreciated where you live?
  • Move to France.

An Outline of the article:

  • Work-Life Balance
  • 35 hours work week
  • Where to Work?
  • In Which Sectors?

Work-Life Balance

  • Will your work-life balance be any different if you move to France?
  • Ultimately, it depends on you.
  • But if you’ve decided to move it must mean that you intend to make it happen.
  • Maybe you moved for transportation fluidity, which will make you save an extra hour every day.
  • Maybe for a better atmosphere, which will grant you a better health & will allow you to save time & money on medical treatment.
  • Maybe you’ve adopted a minimalist lifestyle when moving which will ,again, allow you to save time & money.

35 hours work week

  • What would you do if you had an extra 5 hours every week?
  • An extra hour every day?
  • Spend more time with friends & family?
  • Start a side project?
  • Yes, you can.
  • And you don’t even have to cut another hour of leisure time.

Where to Work?

  • In Paris, Marseilles or Lyon?
  • Yes, you can.
  • Although the 3 biggest cities of France are less & less sough after.
  • The reasons?
  • Pollution, criminality & congested traffic.
  • Maybe the same reasons why you quit your country in the 1st place.
  • If you want to have a glimpse of the French Metropolises, you could always live in the suburbs, or just out of the center.
  • There are also options like Aix, Bordeaux or Dijon, which offer more reasonable housing options.
  • Working in Western France?
  • French people want to work in Western France.
  • Why?
  • Unemployment is low, and it decreases.
  • The train & aerial web is consistant & effective.
  • This is true for most of France, but even more so in the West.
  • The degree of integration of young people in the market is higher.
  • The median wage is high.
  • Regions such as Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Pays de la Loire & Bretagne are more & more attractive to French people.
  • Bretagne(Brittany), has long been a favorite of travelers, especially British, and foreigners who wished to install in France.
  • Today Rennes is 1 of the top choices for French people & people from abroad alike.
  • If you prefer a bigger city & warmer climate Bordeaux, the capital of Nouvelle-Aquitaine would suit you.
  • If you are fine with something more temperate & prefer a calmer, smaller place, Angers is for you.
  • Example of western french Cities & Town you may consider: Lyon, Grenoble, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Annecy, Chambéry, Tours et Clermont-Ferrand.

In Which Sectors?

Transportation, Logistics & Supply chain:

  • The Cariste (Forklift operator) manages merchandises stocks (transportation, checking & quality control).
  • The Agent de fabrication (processing agent) is managing the conception of products mainly in automobile, plasturgie, electrical/electronic appliances, automotive & aeronautics.
  • Conducteurs de poids lourds (truck drivers) is another job where offers explode.
  • Finally, Techniciens de maintenance (service technicians) is the job category that recruits the most.
  • All these jobs are now qualified as ‘metier en tension’, or highly sough after jobs.

B2B Marketing:

  • Customer Success Specialist, this one requires a sense of information flux management, managing the balance between marketing & adds, but also knowledge of financial services.
  • Community Manager, this 1 will be sough after in the domains of Marketing & adds, of course, but also Local Branding, PR, and Sports.

Civil engineering, Construction & Real Estate

  • These jobs will be in demand because New Cities (e.g. Strasbourg) are emerging & metropolises (e.g. Lyon) are growing.
  • There is another reason.
  • In certain parts of France, real estate becomes inappropriately over-priced.
  • The solution? Build new buildings & sell them.

Agriculture & Food engineering.

  • This is where you’ll find some of the Frenchest jobs such as Viticulteur or Sommelier.
  • But also Ingénieur agronome as well as œnologue.
  • Central France invests heavily in Food engineering, especially town like Angers.
  • More & more universities & institutes are specialized in Agriculture & Agro-engineering.

Machine Learning & Cyber Security

  • If you’re already a computer scientist/engineer, a programmer or a software engineer you will integrate easily to the market, wherever you are in AI or not.
  • Know that France is 1 of the biggest investors in machine learning, probably the 1st in Europe.
  • So, if you’re honing your Python & Tensorflow/Keras skills, France could be the country for you.

Categories
Uncategorized

Living in France : Angers, the best town?

  • What’s the Best town in France?
  • Is there a singular answer?
  • Angers received the title of 1st town where it’s good to live multiple years, and has been classed as 1 of the best towns of France many years consecutively.
  • What makes it a great town to live?
  • There are 7 reasons orienting our choice/pick:
  • Academic Excellency
  • High quality Healthcare
  • Environmental integration
  • Cool Atmosphere
  • Low Crime
  • Reasonable Housing & Real Estate
  • Entertainment & Cultural Patrimony

Academic excellency & Food Engineering

  • Wherever it is Grade School or University, Angers invests highly in it’s education.
  • Angers has a great State University.
  • Angers is heavily investing in Engineering through l’Ecole Supérieur d’Agriculture (ESA).
  • Most notably Agricultural & Biological Engineering through the Istom, an Institute specialized in Food Engineering.
  • This school, trains engineers specializing in agricultural fields, has strategically set up in the heart of Pays de la Loire. a region that excels in this area.
  • Innovation in Plants/Crops development though new technology.
  • The Angers’ University & the Istom have developed a large inter-partnership web with R&D centers & partners such as ESA, Essca, Agro Campus Ouest, INRA.
  • Angers has also developed a ‘Campus du végétal’, a polarizing infrastructure composed of 2 parts:
    • La ‘Maison du végétal’ is the Competitiveness & Industrial development pole gathering industrial professionals, CEOs & professional syndicates of the field.
    • L’Institut du végétal The Campus gathers more 250 researchers & engineers as well as students.

High quality Healthcare

  • Health physical and mental health factors including
  • As for the rest of France, the life expectancy is high: 83 years.
  • France is 5th is most benchmarks in terms of life expectancy (Spain, Italy & Sweden have a similar index).
  • and adults reporting insufficient sleep or mentally unhealthy days.
  • Health Amenities & Services
  • The Accessibility to a general practitioner is very high, 1 of the highest in France.
  • The same goes for dentists, kinésithérapeute, gynecologists, pediatricians & ophthalmologists.
  • The access to mental health providers (psychiatrists) & primary care providers (nurses) is also high.
  • Angers holds 17 hospitals & multiple red cross establishments.
  • based on the number of hospitals,
  • Physical Activity
  • As said earlier, Parks are plentiful in Angers & more than 300 of them are Equipped for physical activity.
  • To compare most towns in France have between 20 & 50 equipped parks.

Continuous attention to the environment

  • Angers develops cross-domain policies to enhance Energy efficiency & Sustainable Urbanisme.
  • Angers shines through its measures in term of modern Urbanisme.
  • Angers is the greenest Town of France (palmarès Unep 2014).
  • Her R&D is oriented through vegetal production & innovation supporting the City of Tomorrow.
  • Wherever it is professionals, or enthusiast, the Angevins(Angers’ inhabitants) are making their town greener.
  • The vegetal declination embellish the historical, namely medieval but also antique, patrimony of the town.
  • Angers, has obtain the label ‘4 fleurs’ at the ‘Villes et Villages fleuris’ national competition.
  • Every habitant can access to a green space through feet.
  • Angers holds more than 40 parks, 550 ha of green space or more than 40 m2 per habitant.
  • The town gathers more than 1 000 ha of natural spaces, 110 000 tree & 1 000 resting spots.
  • Angers organizes every year a competition named ‘Jardins d’expression’.
  • The Goal of this competition is to ‘enhance the bond between human & nature though patrimonial valorisation & horticultural know-how.’
  • Up to 40 Jardins are elaborated by engineer/agriculture/designer students, high schoolers & grade schoolers.
  • The 40 pieces are then presented to more than 30000 visitors.

A Cool Atmosphere

  • The amount of Sunlight is consequent at every time of the year.
  • While at the same time the weather is not too Hot thanks to the western winds.
  • In term of convenience, commute times are short, walkability is good, and distance to airports is reasonable.
  • The Public Transportation web, composed mainly of Buses & Tramways, is consistant & effective.
  • Its is designed to create as little atmospheric pollution as possible.
  • Angers has many environmental advantages.
  • The air is one of the purest in France thanks to the winds (vents d’ouest).
  • You will often be at a reasonable distance of both the sea & the mountain.

Low Crime

  • Angers’ criminality (property & violent crime risk) is low compared to the National index.
  • Criminality growth is steady.
  • The Town is big enough to have 4 Precincts.
  • The Gendarmeries posts & police departments within the Town’s boundaries are easily accessible, as everywhere else in France.
  • The Population contributes to the maintain of peace through militant & Associative actions, community support & ‘Maisons de quartier’.
  • The investment made in Education, Culture & Sports policies are crucial to maintain the criminality at a low level, especially with youths.
  • The constant embellishment of the town & the activity of communities Associations contributes largely to the reduction of criminal acts.

Reasonable Housing & Real Estate

  • Angers is not an expensive Town.
  • This goes for the cost of Life in general as well as Housing.
  • Housing oscillate between 600€ & 900€.
  • You can find a 2-bedroom apartment for as little as 700€ in Southern Angers.
  • You can find a 2-bedroom apartment for as little as 750-800€ in Central Angers.
  • You can find a 3-bedroom house for as little as 750€ in Southern Angers.
    • In districts such as La Roseraie or Chateaubriant the prices are reasonable.
  • It may be difficult to find a 3-bedroom house in Central Angers, but the offers exist.
  • It’s a good idea to go directly to the owner through immobilier(real estate) websites so you don’t have to pay agency fee.
  • You’ll often save from 150-200€.

Entertainment & Cultural Patrimony

  • Angers displays its historical patrimony through constant renovation & restauration.
  • Angers integrates its historical patrimony into the general Urbanisme.
  • Most of Angers’ historical patrimony is Medieval, but you also have many Antique structures & art pieces.
  • Angers displays a quality cultural offer.
  • The Angevins are a very cinema-loving population.
  • Angers holds 3 of the great Musée de France (National museums).
  • The Art Galleries are plentiful as well you can find many famous paintings that were painted in Angers & are now exposed in here to this day.
  • Multiple poets such as Ronsard & Du Bellay, have their pieces of poetry accessible from local museums & art galleries.
  • La Cathedral d’Angers is the monument of the Town.
  • Its Gates are embedded with Polychromies (Multi-color sculptures).
  • A new gallery is about to be build around the gates to protect the Sculptures.
  • The project directed by Japanese architecte Kengo Kuma aims to protects the Polychromies of the Cathedral.
  • The abundant use of Wood, the limitation in the use of Concrete & Steel pairs with the way Angers is built.
  • Sustainable & Aesthetic Urbanisme are the end goal.