The French Exodus

Seeking a Better Mix
Name: HAMID SENNI
Occupation: Diversity consultant
Age: 31 Destinations: Gothenburg, London

When Senni walks down the Champs Elysées, he makes sure to wear a suit and tie. "If I'm in jeans, people think I'm a shoplifter." That impression of being denigrated because he's a second-generation immigrant is a strong one, born of years of bitter experience. His answer was to leave France, first for Sweden and then Britain, where he advises clients on workforce diversity. "In the U.K., diversity is seen as an opportunity. In France it's still seen as a problem," he says. While some corporations are changing, he says, French politics is not. "When will France have the courage to really look at its problems?"

The Life of the Party
Name: BENOIT LAVAUD
Occupation: Designer, nightlife entrepreneur
Age: 33 Destination: Tokyo

In Japan, he's known as Beno, especially to the hip set who flock to the crowded, invitation-only nightclub parties he's been co-organizing for the past 15 months. "I had projects in France but times were difficult," he explains. In Tokyo, by contrast, he finds things easier. The Isetan department store has begun stocking his clothing brand, Boëge, named after his home town in the Alps. He keeps an eye on French politics, but has few illusions. "There's so much inertia," he says. "It's a wonderful country, but the energy to succeed needs to return."

A Foreign Education
Name: FLORENCE CELLOT
Occupation: Marketing specialist
Age: 32 Destinations: Tokyo, London

Born into a family filled with teachers, Cellot says, "I love my country, but it's outdated." She and her husband left for Tokyo five years ago, and recently moved to London, where she's currently doing an M.B.A. She says about one in five of her classmates from the Edhec Business School in Lille, where she studied marketing a decade ago, also moved abroad. That pace is now quickening: the school says one in four of its class of 2006 found their first jobs outside France. Her own brief work experience in France was typical of recent graduates: she says she was put on a series of temporary contracts in her first job. "If you are young, you don't have the feeling in France that people are investing in you," she complains. She's been following the twists of the election campaign closely, but so far she doesn't find any candidate convincing. Perhaps life is still too good back home, she reflects. "We're privileged. More people need to be touched before anything really changes."