On 22 October, the Syntec and Cinov business organisations – representing France’s technical design, digital and consulting sectors (1.4 million employees) – signed a professional equality agreement with the FO, CFTC and CFE-CGC unions. The deal improves pay during family leave, eases working time arrangements for pregnant employees and strengthens support for breastfeeding.
In their bid to combat professional inequality, the social partners in France’s engineering and digital sectors have set out to ease women’s access to their professions. The sector, the second largest in France behind metals with 1.4 million employees, is 65% male (and as high as 68% for engineering and management positions). The agreement was signed on 22 October 2025 by the Syntec and Cinov federations on the employers’ side and CFE-CGC, CFTC and FO on the trade union side, with the CFDT and CGT unions declining to sign.
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Article authors
Antoine Piel
Section Head at Mind HR