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Comment by lapnitnelav | Hacker News Reader

I haven't worked at Orange / FT but I think I wouldn't be wrong emphasising how strongly top-down corporate structures in France can be, as opposed to the US.

Put simply, your boss is "expected" to know more than you, you're not really supposed to question that. Easy to see how that can degenerate when going through such a change.

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This was a public company (or some sort of weird in between, in this case). This matches my experience with my local public companies - contrary to private corporate environment which is definitely not good, but much preferable.

Not sure what you're saying - do you think public companies aren't corporations?

I believe the above poster meant “public service” as mentioned by the top-level comment, or “government-owned.”

Edit: to be more clear, as in contrary to “private, corporate” mentioned above.

Hence why one refers to work in the private sector, which could mean a privately-owned or publicly-traded company, but not something government-owned/operated.

But public services and government owned are also corporations. Corporation doesn't mean 'for-profit public company'. It just means a group with a legal identity.

For example British Broadcasting Corporation.

For example in my country corporations are strictly for profit. It is also not just a "corporation", but a "business corporation" (there is no "corporation" by itself). Public companies are either publicly traded private companies and the state holds stock, or "publicly-owned enterprise" or another special category.

The point was that I think there is value in distinguishing public companies and private companies because it's completely different from employee's and career viewpoint.

I'm talking about the overall work culture in France, rather than the specific differences between being a public servant or an employee.

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