Many surveys have shown that French youth consider working in civil service to be an enticing prospect. The main attraction for the young seems to be the level of job security given for government jobs. However, government officials have begun looking at ways to reshape civil service, so that it looks more like the private sector than the public. This includes trimming the number of employees and introducing longer working hours.
See "The Workplace: Nice wages, short hours, and for life", Thomas Fuller, International Herald Tribune, October 31, 2005