A CDI (Le contrat de travail à durée indéterminée, meaning a permanent employment contract) is probably the kind of contract that most locals and international students strive to secure after graduation.
Having a CDI means “stability.” With a stable income, it is easier to rent a home or obtain a mortgage to buy one. For international students in particular, whether we can land our first CDI after an internship is arguably the most crucial step toward staying in France, because our visas are tied to it.
However, judging from my own experience of transitioning from an internship to a permanent position and working for a year, this system has quite a few drawbacks.
From what I have observed, a CDI is somewhat like a government-funded permanent post in China. Sometimes it can even feel like something of limited value that is nevertheless too good to give up. It is indeed very stable, which means that most people will not resign easily. On the other hand, this system also contributes to social rigidity and a loss of dynamism, and the current weak job market has only made this phenomenon worse.
Quite a few of my friends—all international students—are reluctant to resign simply because they have CDIs, even though they are not very satisfied with their jobs. (Of course, French people are another story; I also have French friends who have quit without another job lined up.)
Employees may also feel secure enough to become complacent because they have CDIs, since they are unlikely to be fired regardless of how well or poorly they perform. Of course, these are the two sides of France’s welfare system: it ensures that no one’s minimum standard of living is too low and that, no matter what happens, people will not be too badly off. At the same time, however, it also limits the upper end of what people can achieve. Over time, everyone’s attitude toward work tends to converge because there are no clear rewards or penalties.
These are my thoughts after working for two years. What does everyone think of the CDI system?