As the French government embarks on a major campaign to promote the employment of older workers, Dominique Laurent, director of human resources for France at energy management equipment specialist Schneider Electric (15,000 employees), has spoken to mind RH about his company's vision on the subject. His challenge: to deconstruct stereotypes and support older workers in their career development.

On 2 April 2025, the management of French company RTE, which has 10,000 employees, and the CFDT, CFE-CGC and FO trade unions signed a fourth agreement on professional equality. It sets targets for increasing the proportion of women holding jobs at the company, introduces a referral bonus for hiring women and strengthens measures to support parents. With the workforce still largely male, these measures are important for the attractiveness of the publicly owned company, which needs to recruit heavily in the coming years.

La direction de l’entreprise française RTE, qui compte 10.000 salariés, et les syndicats CFDT, CFE-CGC et FO ont signé le 2 avril 2025 un quatrième accord sur l’égalité professionnelle repéré par mind RH. Il fixe des objectifs de féminisation des métiers, instaure une prime de cooptation pour l’embauche de femmes et renforce les dispositifs en faveur de la parentalité. Alors que les effectifs restent largement masculins, ces mesures constituent un enjeu d’attractivité pour l’entreprise à capitaux publics, qui doit recruter massivement dans les prochaines années. 

In France, compulsory annual salary negotiations are being disrupted by the growing number of redundancy plans. As inflation returns to normal levels, mind RH sought to ascertain the impact of the economic backdrop on the pay rises negotiated at major groups, according to sector. Between 2024 and 2025, both the amounts negotiated and the proportion of companies granting them have fallen sharply, even before Donald Trump's announcement of tariffs.

Les négociations annuelles obligatoires portant sur les salaires sont bousculées par la multiplication des plans sociaux en France. Alors que l’inflation retrouve un niveau normal, mind RH a cherché à vérifier l’impact du contexte économique sur les augmentations de salaires négociées dans les grands groupes, selon leur secteur. Entre 2024 et 2025, les montants négociés comme la part d’entreprises qui en accordent diminuent nettement avant même l’annonce des tarifs douaniers par Donald Trump.

While Brussels is working to significantly lighten the burden for companies under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), with the omnibus package published on 26 February, organisations in the first wave have still been required to publish their first report under this framework since the beginning of the year. The pharmaceutical group Sanofi is one of the first French companies to have done so. Its environmental, social and governance (ESG) director Laurent Lhopitallier reveals to mind RH how the company went about it.

Alors que Bruxelles s'attèle à atténuer fortement les obligations des entreprises dans le cadre de la CSRD avec le paquet omnibus publié le 26 février, les organisations de la première vague doivent toutefois publier leur premier rapport dans ce cadre depuis le début de l’année. Le groupe pharmaceutique Sanofi fait partie des premiers français à l’avoir fait. Son directeur ESG Laurent Lhopitallier dévoile pour mind RH comment celui-ci s’y est pris pour l'élaborer.

With Michelin's announcements in April, the living wage has come under the spotlight. The issue is about to become a matter of compliance, with the entry into force of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) starting from 2025, which lists pay among the data to be provided annually by companies, concerning both staff and the value chain. Although a number of companies have adopted the living wage, it is still far from being widespread, due to the lack of a common definition and the effort required to put it in place. 

On 19 November, the French branch of the American food corporation Cargill (155,000 employees worldwide) and its trade unions signed an agreement on professional equality. It contains measures on HR processes, grants new rights in terms of parenthood and creates a menstrual leave allowance for female employees. With this move the company, which is going through a spell of difficulty, is seeking to promote gender diversity in a sector where female representation is low.