But that seems to be limited/worse/more when you get 'halfway' through France on the map, it's more abundant when you get in the mediterranean areas. Not sure why, but it's an observation; it's almost as if the concept of work replaced the actual merit of work.

France is quite allright in this regard, it's other EU countries that are more worying: Greece, Italy, Romania, Bulgaria, not necessarily in this order.

Yeah, it's not all of France, and the national policies make sense, but it seems that the closer you get to the Mediterranean sea, the more the quality and work-merit balance tapers off.