Expatriate Paper

The purpose of this report is to describe my ability, preparation and qualification for completion of the expatriate assignment for Acme Cola in Paris, France. Besides my educational qualifications, I have been employed in the HR field for seven years and spent the last two years in HQ as a special assistant to the VP of HR. I was born and raised in Moscow, Russia and while I am a citizen of United States I feel a strong connection to my European roots. I have studied French for 3 years while I was acquiring my formal education and have always admired French culture and history. Therefore when this expatriation opportunity presented itself I felt as though my candidature should be acknowledged and among those considered.

In terms of economy France ranks fifth in the world considering its GDP of 2.66 trillion as of 2009 and it forecasted to grow between 1.3% and 1.7% by the end of 2010. It has a skilled workforce, substantial agricultural resources and a large industrial base. Government economic policy of France currently aims to promote domestic growth and investment while creating new jobs and reducing the high unemployment rate. In the first quarter of 2010 the unemployment rate in metropolitan France increased by 0.3% from 9.2% in 2009. The French government continues to control a large share of economic activity in the country, ranking the government spending at 55.6% of GDP despite the significant privatization and reform that France has gone through in the last 15 years. The government owns shares in corporations in a variety of sectors such as including banking, energy production and distribution, automobiles, transportation, and telecommunications.

Most of the domestic development in France is centralized around telecommunications, aerospace, and weapons sectors. However, France produces virtually no oil and therefore has relied heavily on the development of nuclear power, which accounts for about 80% of the country's electricity production.

France's current president Nicolas Sarkozy assumed office in 2007 and soon passed a law allowing overtime work beyond the 35-hour work week to be exempted from income taxes and payroll taxes in order to encourage work and to increase work time. During elections he was tagged as "pro-American" and was entrusted by voters to carry out the reconnection between US and France. During his service, Sarkozy placed a great emphasis on improving the performance of France's economy through liberalization of labor markets, higher education, and taxes. In 2008 the National Assembly passed a series of bills introduced by the French government to modernize the economy and improve the labor market. Around 5% of the private sector work force in France consists of labor unions and those are mostly concentrated in the manufacturing, transportation, and heavy industry sectors. Most of the unions are affiliated with one of the competing national federations such as General