They are choking over their Gauloises at IBM Corp’s Paris offices after the company’s management banned smoking on their premises. While such measures are commonplace in the US and UK, the French have a tradition of not letting health scares interfere with the pleasures of life. But according to a report in Les Echos, air pollution problems in Paris pushed Big Blue to action. This measure concerns only Paris and its environs, precisely there where we have problems regenerating air, said a company statement. Since the company’s smokers will still be able to pursue their addiction outside company premises, it is not clear how this will reduce the pollution over Paris. IBM France reports a drop in the number of employees smoking from 60% 25 years ago to 17% of its 6,000 workforce today.
