Boss­nap­ping à la Cantona

In the last two decades in particular, disputes between management and workers in France have become increasingly intense. The so-called "bossnapping", the hostage taking of management, masterfully staged by Éric Cantona in the Netflix series ‘Inhuman Resources’ (2020), provides a telling example.

The Netflix series Inhuman Res­sour­ces (French:  Dérapages, 2020) directed by Ziad Doueiri is based on the 2010 novel Cadre Noir by the suc­cess­ful French crime writer and Prix Goncourt prize winner Pierre Lemaitre, who also adapted the book to the screen­play. The series deals with incidents and upheavals in the world of work in France, which can be con­si­de­red unique in their frequency and level of harshness, and cul­mi­na­tes in the company manage­ment being taken hostage. Real-life examples are provided by Cater­pil­lar (Grenoble 2009), Goodyear Tire & Rubber (Amiens 2014) and more recently Renault (Caudan 2021).

France Télécom offers an addi­tio­nal insight into the impact of extreme levels of stress in par­ti­cu­lar areas of the world of work. An alarming number of suicides were recorded there, 34 in total, between the years 2008 and 2011. For the media it was deemed as a con­se­quence of the cano­ni­sa­ti­on of economic success criteria, the tran­si­ti­on to project-based orga­ni­sa­ti­on and the self-attri­bu­ti­on of failures on the part of the employees.

Against the backdrop of glo­ba­li­sa­ti­on and the relo­ca­ti­on of companies or parts of companies abroad, the French labour market has come under par­ti­cu­lar pressure. In the years 1995 to 2001, job losses due to out­sour­cing averaged 13,500 jobs per year. Unem­ploy­ment increased to 9.6% in 2000 and remained high at 9.1% in 2010, long-term unem­ploy­ment behaved the same, 42.6% in 2000 and 40.1% respec­tively in 2010.

Returning to Inhuman Res­sour­ces, Alain Delambre — famously embodied by Éric Cantona — a 57-year-old long-term unem­ploy­ed former human relations manager who applies for a similar job at a large cor­po­ra­ti­on through a recruit­ment agency. His habitus seems to fit, yet his age speaks against him, but his advantage is a certain “coar­seness” that fits the job profile, as the company is planning a factory closure and numerous layoffs and are looking for a human resources manager to handle it.

The entrance test is organised as a role play with two aims where leading managers of the company are to be tested also for their stress resis­tance and loyalty to the company through a hostage-taking scenario. It is the can­di­da­te’s respon­si­bi­li­ty to tell the “fake” hostage-takers how to act via headsets, i.e. to effi­ci­ent­ly push the hostages to the limit of their psy­cho­lo­gi­cal resi­li­en­ce in order to elicit company secrets under excep­tio­nal emotional strain. It is through this method, the candidate is supposed to qualify.

This role-play scenario actually took place in a similar way: On 25 Oct. 2005 at the Romain­ville chateau in Ecque­vil­ly 12 people from the adver­ti­sing depart­ment of France Télé­vi­si­ons are sup­po­sed­ly taking part in “a seminar”. The planning is the respon­si­bi­li­ty of the general director of the depart­ment, whose intention is to test the stress resis­tance of his closest col­leagues. A group of ter­ro­rists take the seminar par­ti­ci­pants hostage and demand a ransom of one million euros and the broadcast of a pre-recorded video on a “France 2” news programme.

As the boss­nap­ping unfolds Delambre, is made aware that the coveted position has long since been promised to his rival, nevertheless keeps up appearan­ces unfazed for the time being and sur­ren­ders to the procedure.

However, he pursues his own course and takes all those present as actual hostages. (That he uses this situation to gain access to incri­mi­na­ting documents that will later allow him to blackmail the company is just one of the many twists in the series.) A monologue ensues, where Delambre begins with the words “now the unem­ploy­ed are in power” and continues in an aggres­si­ve manner with his view of the pre­di­ca­ment his is currently in. Armed with a pistol, he becomes violent against those he thinks are to blame for his own situation, and the situation in general. Delambre thus trans­forms the dis­tur­bing game into violence. He argues for a balance of pos­si­bi­li­ties and justifies his actions as self-defence:

‘Our strategy was to adopt theirs. They are ter­ro­ri­sing exe­cu­ti­ves. I am doing the same thing. They were all armed. So, I was armed. They were testing reactions in personnel. I was more than ready to test those guys. It is my opinion that Big Business is sort of the old Wild West. To stay alive, have a fire arm. And be able to shoot down someone who want wants to shoot you first.’ 

The repre­sen­ta­ti­on of the theme of recruit­ment in ‘Inhuman Res­sour­ces’ is in some ways unpar­al­leled: in the course of the action, Delambre demands to be recruited at gunpoint. Although this is only meant as a gesture, it sets the scene for the reversal of power, a power that is otherwise always reserved for personnel manage­ment or top manage­ment. Opposing camps collide — where agreement is neither sought nor possible; the violent conflict between capital and labour governs the action. ‘Inhuman Res­sour­ces’ — probably not a coin­ci­dence for a film like this set in France?

Dr. Reinhold Gaubitsch is a political scientist and was, until his reti­re­ment, project manager in the Depart­ment of Labor Market and Career Infor­ma­ti­on of the Public Employ­ment Service Austria and respon­si­ble, among other things, for voca­tio­nal guidance films.

Refe­ren­ces:
AFP-Report in: THES­TRAIT­STI­MES vom 28. 4. 2021, „Boss-napping“ returns as angry French workers seize managers
Aubert, Patrick & Patrick Sillard (2005). Délo­ca­li­sa­ti­on et réduc­tions d’effectifs dans l’industrie française, L’économie française: comptes et dossiers, Ed. 2005–2006 pp. 57–89
fran­ce­info (6.5.2019). Suicides à France Télécom: l’article à lire pour tout com­prend­re de cette affaire emblé­ma­ti­que­de la souf­fran­ce au travail
Lemaitre, Pierre (2010). Cadre Noir, Calmann-Lévy Noir
OCDE, Taux de chômage de longue durée
Wess­be­cher, Louise, Huffpost (23.4.2020). „Dérapages“sur Arte: l’histoire vraie d’une (fausse) prise d’otage chez France Télévisions