Originally Posted by
RichardInSF
I stayed in the quirky little Hyatt in Brussels once long ago, it was definitely an unusual hotel for Hyatt! Multinationals don't like Belgium as local law has many disadvantages for them there, including basically the inability to ever fire or even lay someone off. That's why you also don't see MickeyD's, KFC, or Skcubrats in Brussels AFAIK.
The laws are actually nowhere near as bad in the Scandinavian countries, it should be possible there.
Given that McD's, KFC, Hyatt properties etc. are often franchised businesses owned by (often) local companies, why would the "multinationals" care? They aren't the ones to do the hiring and firing. And I think Germany has fairly labor-friendly laws, too, and yet multinationals seem to be doing plenty of (franchised) business there.
(just an observation, I am certainly not an expert in any of this, but that doesn't stop us here in FT, now does it?)