TOY robots line Jérôme Veneau’s barber shop in Paris, and a Superman symbol adorns one wall. The decor is appropriate: Mr Veneau’s efforts to earn a living are robotic and tireless. His first 200 haircuts each month, he says, pay for his social charges and taxes. Only then does he make his first cent of take-home pay.
His customers are so plentiful that he regularly turns people away. Yet after 29 years, he remains a solo practitioner. When he falls ill or takes lunch, the shop closes. Why not hire someone to help? “Never, the whole system is a mess,” he says. He once had an employee, but the man claimed to have been injured by repetitive scissor-snipping. A court ordered Mr Veneau to pay €17,000 ($20,000)—some to the worker, some to the state. His family stumped up the cash. “I’ll never hire again,” he says.
Mr Veneau voted for Emmanuel Macron, France’s reform-minded young president, who vows to unblock the country’s labour markets. In a...Continue reading
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