It is mostly true. There is more flexibility for smaller companies, but generally you need to justify firing someone and courts tend to protect employees more.

It is mostly true. There is more flexibility for smaller companies, but generally you need to justify firing someone and courts tend to protect employees more. The issue in France is that you basically have tons of small companies that can have exemptions on things like that, taxes, etc. and a few very large companies that can deal with that, but almost nothing in between. Running a 500-employee company in France is basically hell, you get crap from everywhere.