Muriel Pénicaud

Muriel Pénicaud (born 31 March 1955) is a former French business executive who has been serving as her country's ambassador to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) since 2020.[1] She previously served as the Minister of Labour in the government of Prime Minister Édouard Philippe from 17 May 2017 to 6 July 2020. In the private sector, she was the executive vice president of human resources at Dassault Systèmes from 2002 to 2008, and at Groupe Danone from 2008 to 2014.[2][3]

Muriel Pénicaud
Minister of Labour
In office
17 May 2017 – 6 July 2020
PresidentEmmanuel Macron
Prime MinisterÉdouard Philippe
Preceded byMyriam El Khomri
Succeeded byÉlisabeth Borne
Personal details
Born (1955-03-31) 31 March 1955
Versailles, France
NationalityFrench
Political partyLa République En Marche!
Children2
Alma materParis Nanterre University
University of Strasbourg
INSEAD

Early life

A native of Versailles, Pénicaud was born on 31 March 1955.[4] In 1975, she graduated from Paris Nanterre University with a bachelor's degree in history and a master’s degree in Education sciences the following year.[5] She completed her studies with a DEA (Master of Advanced Studies) in Clinical Psychology.[5] In 1995 she graduated from INSEAD Business School.[6]

Career

Pénicaud worked as a regional administrator on job-training missions before moving to the French Minister of Labour from 1985 to 2002.[4][7] She was an advisor to Minister Jean-Louis Bianco from 1991 to 1992, and to Minister René Teulade from 1992 to 1993.[4]

Pénicaud worked for Groupe Danone from 1993 to 2002.[4] She was the Executive Vice-President of Organization, Human Resources and Sustainable Development for Dassault Systèmes from 2002 to 2008.[4] She returned to the Groupe Danone in 2008, where she was Executive Vice-President for Human Resources under chairman Franck Riboud until 2014.[4] She received between 2012 and 2014 more than 4.7 million euros of remuneration for this activity. In addition, in April 2013, she realized a capital gain of 1,1 million euros by dismissing 900 employees.[8]

Pénicaud was appointed as the French Ambassador for International Investment in May 2014, and as the CEO of Business France on 1 January 2015.[4] In this capacity, she promoted foreign investment in France to boost job creation.[9] By 2017, her personal wealth was at around 7.5 million euros ($8.8 million).[10]

Pénicaud was appointed as the French Minister of Labour in the government of Prime Minister Édouard Philippe on 17 May 2017.[9][3] At the time of her appointment, she was seen as widely respected by the country's trade unions.[11] During her time in office, France’s unemployment rate fell back in 2019 to reach its lowest level since the end of 2008.[12] She nonetheless set quotas that year for the first time for the number of immigrant workers from outside the European Union France allows into the country.[13] She also oversaw the government's early measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in France, when around 7.8 million people were on temporary unemployment packages by the end of May 2020.[14]

Ahead of the 45th G7 summit, Pénicaud chaired the meeting of G7 ministers of labour, in the presence of international social partners, the ILO, the OECD and the World Bank.[15]

Other activities

Corporate boards
  • SNCF, Member of the Board of Directors (2013-2017)[16]
  • Paris-Saclay, Member of the Board of Directors[17]
  • Orange, Member of the Board of Directors (2011-2014)

Non-profit organizations

Controversies

A formal investigation was opened in July 2017 into "possible favouritism" in awarding the organization of Business France technology event in Las Vegas to Havas public relations agency during Pénicaud's tenure.[19] The French daily Libération claimed that Pénicaud was suspected of having provided a "truncated overview of the audit" to Business France's board of directors.[20]

As a human resources director at Danone in the 1990s, Pénicaud made $1.4 million from stock options while cutting 900 jobs, according to Bloomberg.[21]

Personal life

Pénicaud has two children.[9]

Honours

Muriel Pénicaud was awarded the insignia of Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur (Knight in the Order of the Legion d’Honneur) on 30 January 2008,[22] then Officier (Officer) on 13 November 2014.[23]

References
  1. Manon Malhère (August 26 2020), Muriel Pénicaud, ambassadrice auprès de l'OCDE Le Figaro.
  2. "Gouvernement Castex en direct : Darmanin nommé ministre de l'intérieur, Dupond-Moretti garde des sceaux et Bachelot à la culture". Le Monde.fr (in French). 6 July 2020.
  3. "Muriel Pénicaud, une ministre du Travail au "profil exemplaire" selon les patrons". L'Express. 17 May 2017. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  4. "Executive Management". Business France. Archived from the original on 2 May 2017. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  5. "Qui est Muriel Pénicaud, la nouvelle ministre du Travail ?". Europe 1 (in French). 17 May 2017.
  6. "Muriel Pénicaud (AMP'95Jul), nommée ministre du Travail". INSEAD Alumni Association France (in French). 23 March 2015.
  7. Nicholas Vinocur (November 14, 2017) Muriel Pénicaud’s magic formula to fix France Politico Europe.
  8. http://www.liberation.fr/france/2017/07/27/la-juteuse-plus-value-boursiere-de-muriel-penicaud-chez-danone_1586672
  9. Cathelinais, Coralie (17 May 2017). "Muriel Pénicaud, l'ancienne DRH de Danone, devient ministre du Travail". BFM Business. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  10. Gus Trompiz, Emmanuel Jarry, Marine Pennetier and Michel Rose (December 16, 2017), Elysee plays down opulence of Macron birthday at Loire chateau Reuters.
  11. Leigh Thomas and Caroline Pailliez (June 19, 2017), With parliament in the bag, France's Macron faces union test Reuters.
  12. Sudip Kar-Gupta (August 14, 2019), French jobless rate fell in second-quarter to lowest level since end-2008 Reuters.
  13. Nicolas Delame (November 5, 2019), France to implement quotas for labor immigration: minister Reuters.
  14. Dominique Vidalon and Sudip Kar-Gupta (June 17, 2020), 7.8 million French on temporary unemployment packages at end-May: minister Reuters.
  15. Manon Malhère (August 26 2020), Muriel Pénicaud, ambassadrice auprès de l'OCDE Le Figaro.
  16. "OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS". SNCF. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  17. "Board of Directors". Paris-Saclay. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  18. World Economic Forum Appoints Two New Members to its Board of Trustees World Economic Forum, press release of 15 November 2019.
  19. Elizabeth Pineau (May 8, 2018), French Labor minister summoned over PR contract Reuters.
  20. Halissat, Ismaël (3 July 2017). "Affaire Las Vegas : le tour de passe-passe de Pénicaud". Libération.fr (in French).
  21. "Macron Vows Millionaire Minister Will Cut Worker Protection". BloombergQuint. 3 August 2017.
  22. "Décret du 30 janvier 2008 portant promotion et nomination". Légifrance (in French).
  23. "Décret du 13 novembre 2014 portant promotion et nomination". Légifrance (in French).
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