[kleim]

I think it depends on your field/position. From my experience, anything else than management will get you a rather bad income. Most of "software engineers" in France are basically considered as making a job at technician/operator level. Some of these jobs are actually getting exported to India or Spain.

[throwaway1892]

Well, it's still white collar work and if you have an engineer's diploma in software, you'll have higher salaries than a people with an equivalent degree (engineer's diploma) in other industries (construction, car construction). But you need that diploma, without it, the GP will have a very hard time finding any kind of position. Other degrees might give access to the job market, so, in his case, he should try to find a short formation giving him a degree so he can work. Currently some consulting companies (les sociétés de services) are hiring like crazy, so with a degree and some work sample, you might get a foot in the door.