The CDI: France's Double-Edged Sword

The Contrat à Durée Indéterminée — the permanent contract — is the holy grail of French employment, offering near-bulletproof job security that would be unimaginable in Anglo-Saxon labor markets. Once inside, an employee is extraordinarily protected: termination requires cause, lengthy process, and often significant severance. French employment law is written to protect the worker above all else.

Yet Reddit users on r/france and r/cscareerquestionsEU consistently highlight the dark side: because it is so notoriously difficult and expensive to fire an underperforming employee, companies are terrified of making a bad hire. The result is agonizingly slow, multi-round interview processes and a severe reluctance to take a chance on junior candidates or career pivoters. French employers are not hiring a candidate — they are entering what may be a lifetime commitment.