Entreprise and prefessions : identities under strain ?

In a Europe where there is a strong consensus on the deregulation of services, the French conception of public service, characterised by a close association between the State and its officials, is now being robustly questioned. The French Post Office (La Poste) is gradually changing its status to become a public company. The recent creation of its banking branch (La Banque Postale) is part of this reasoning. In the face of this change, financial advisors at La Poste are torn between various factors : the tradition of public service versus the demands of a very competitive world, the traditional civil servant status versus contractual staff status, and organisational identity versus professional identity. Adeline Gilson and Nadège Vézinat analyse what is at stake and interpret the changes in this professional group.