You can absolutely fire people in France and many companies have done it by the thousands. They just did not happen to have billions in profits at the same time.
No doubt helped by the modern neoliberalism* wave of Macron.
And raising the retirement age.. and more austerity too?
* For anyone unfamiliar with the term: think corporate "Liberal" (conservative lite) inspired by the American Clinton dynasty including Obama and Biden who are pro-neocolonialism, anti-union, anti-worker, and "tough on crime". Macron's type is sometimes seen as a "palatable compromise" compared to the regressive fascist nationalists like Le Pen.
