As a French guy still living in France, I don't find Paris to be attractive at all.
It is a dirty city, housing is expensive and generally in a poor state, and there a lot of security issues and social unrest: burglaries, violent protests (almost every week), periodic riots in some suburbs and terrorist attacks. To the point that more and more in the media, you hear about an upcoming civil war.
Add that all the famous France's plagues: strikes, bureaucracy, very high income taxes for people earning more than 2000/m Euros and more recently communities living more and more separately.
There is no social unrest in Germany, Frankfurt is much safer and Germany more reliable.
Frankfurt is a lovely place to live... I was surprised how cheap it was (compared to nyc and such). While not a world class city like NYC/London, it has a lot to offer, and it is on par with cities like Boston/Seatle/SF/W.DC/Lyon/Zurich etc...
It is a solid 'upper middle' tier city, where everything is clean and neat.
This. And from what I’ve heard this is often less about the banker asked to relocate themselves but their families. London is just far more attractive as a place for foreigners to relocate to than Frankfurt is.
It’s one of the downsides of Germany’s less centralized economy. While not the same status as London, Munich or Berlin would likely be more attractive destinations for their families.
Ha!? Paris is attractive only for a handful of ultra-rich or if you are a two days tourist (and even then). On the other hand, I found Frankfurt to be quite affordable and calm.
What daily attractions does Paris have? Sure there is the Louvre but I didn't visit that as a tourist (no way I'm standing on these lines); so I don't think I'll be seeing it everyday to work.
I'm guessing that at least some financial institutions have been moving (part of) their London operations to mainland Europe, thereby creating a shortage of available workers there. That will probably self-correct over time, but it doesn't help the situation right now.