In the face of economic and political headwinds, French businesses must find new ways to drive modernization.

Before the pandemic, economic reforms in France took the center stage of public discussion, as the nation grappled with high unemployment and stagnated growth. Despite the interruption to normal economic activity caused by the pandemic, the reforms are starting to show signs of a positive impact. Unemployment numbers are improving even as they remain high compared with the Eurozone as a whole.

Sweeping economic reform, however, is not popular across the board. Recent years witnessed the rise of the “gilets jaunes,” a populist and grassroots organization taking aim at increasing inequality and unpopular reforms, such as a tax on fuel. The region must also come to terms with a new relationship with one of its largest trading partners: the UK. And businesses must grapple with some of the toughest data sovereignty and labor laws on the planet.

For French businesses looking to be future-fit, it will be essential to address both the fractious external environment and their own internal challenges. These internal challenges—as revealed by Cognizant’s analysis of recent Economist Impact research—include talent management, a growing disconnect between varying stakeholder groups and poor use of rich data that can boost modernization.

In our work to define what it takes to be future-ready—and how close businesses are to reaching a future-ready state—Cognizant commissioned Economist Impact to conduct a survey of 2,000 senior executives, including 135 executives from France, across industries and geographies, as well as create a future-ready benchmarking tool (see our full report, “Ready for anything: What it means to be a modern business”).

Our own analysis of this data underscores what executives in France and globally need to do now to prepare.

For more, visit the Modern Business section of our website, or contact us.