‘Commute, work, die’ should be retired

WHATEVER the slogans wielded by striking workers angry at Emmanuel Macron’s pension reform might say — such as “commute, work, die” — the French are anything but lazy. The country’s unemployment rate is at its lowest in years, and France has a greater share of 25-to-54-year-olds in work than the European Union average, or indeed the US. The pace of job creation is above pre-pandemic levels.

Where France punches below its weight, however, is in its share of workers over 55. Macron wants to raise that number but not just by pushing the retirement age to 64 from 62; he wants to prod companies to hire more people in their 50s and 60s, setting targets for diversity by age. Similar steps have been taken elsewhere, such as when UK firms including Aviva Plc and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc pledged in 2017 to hire more over-50s. The French version looks distinctly less touchy-feely, with the threat of fines if companies don’t play ball.

If Macron is tying the idea of tougher age quotas to pension reform, it’s also as a sop to critics and unions who say lifting the pension age will worsen unemployment as older workers get laid off before retirement.