Tony M Jul 7, 2015:

@ Yves I think you may be misinterpreting the HR aspect of this situation (if indeed that is what it is!)

'To close a deal' certainly doesn't mean 'fermer les robinets' — it means 'conclure (un marché, etc.)'

We badly need extra context, but I believe the 'deals' in question are nothing to do with the company's profits etc., but are about 'concluding negotiations with applicants' — after all, €60k is still a fairly respectable salary level, so we re talking about the sort of level of staff where some kind of negotiation is likely to be used at hiring; the 'deal' may include the gross salary, but also fringe benefits, company car, etc. etc.

So I think what they are trying to say is that, despite whatever had been said in the preceding text, they are still managing to find good people and recruit them for no more than €60k.

So I see nothing in the text as given that would be inconsistent with an issue of salary in an HR context — subject, as ever, to having proper context!

Yves ALLAIN (X) Jul 6, 2015:

DRH et bénéfices bruts Que fait une DRH quand l'entreprise a réalisé un bénéfice brut annuel (AGP) inférieur ou égal à 60 000 euros ? Elle ferme les robinets et les tractations (deals) salariales sont terminées (close). Voilà comment je comprends cette phrase (mais le contexte manque pour être sûr que ce sont des tractations salariales : à part ça, je ne vois pas beaucoup de deals avec une DRH).

HERBET Abel Jul 6, 2015:

In the present case AGP is surely not a salary but profit on "deals"

Tony M Jul 6, 2015:

@ Asker I'd say you are almost certainly right — bear in mind that in the UK at least, salaries are almost invariably quoted annually rather than monthly, as is so often the case in France.

What goes before may help, as there is a 'but ...' — so what was the preceding statement, and how does that relate to this figure of €60,000? I'd expect soemine to have said that today it was necessary to pay higher salaries, but Luisa points out that they are still quite often managing to hire people at salaries of less than €60k.