C & B ALTERNATIVE
C&B Alternative is a Paris-based compensation consulting firm founded in 2007 that runs salary surveys and advisory services for French production sites and OETAM workers, covering 600 sites and 130,000 employees via payroll-sourced benchmarking. It sells through direct outreach and 15 professional federations as an Arthur Hunt network partner.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2007
- HeadquartersParis, France
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What C & B ALTERNATIVE does
C&B Alternative is a Paris-based, privately-held compensation consulting firm founded in 2007 by Jean-Philippe Dominguez and Nebine Chhay. The firm specializes in salary surveys and compensation advisory for French production sites, with a specific focus on the OETAM (Ouvriers, Employés, Techniciens, Agents de Maîtrise) population and operational managers — a segment it identifies as the first French consultancy to serve explicitly. Data is collected through an electronic questionnaire platform and drawn exclusively from clients' payroll software (rather than self-report), then matched to a proprietary job-classification cartography to produce national and regional positioning reports across 130,000 employees and 600 production sites.
The product portfolio comprises five survey types (OETAM/Production, Operational Managers covering 9 business lines, Marketing/Sales, Salary Increase Budgets, and bespoke surveys) plus a custom consulting line covering compensation strategy, job evaluation, variable-pay design, and external market analysis. Revenue is generated through annual subscription-style survey participation fees and project-based consulting engagements, with all sales handled domestically via direct outreach, the firm's website, and channel partnerships with 15 professional associations and national federations.
Since 2012, C&B Alternative has operated as a member of the Arthur Hunt consulting network, collaborating with Arthur Hunt Consulting on advisory engagements and accessing a broader HR consulting ecosystem. The firm is independently owned and founder-led, with a small senior team (1–10 employees including three named consultants) and no external equity investment or public financial disclosures.
C & B ALTERNATIVE firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- C & B ALTERNATIVE
- Legal name
- C&B ALTERNATIVE
- Website
- https://cb-alternative.fr
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2007
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- C&B Alternative is a Paris-based compensation consulting firm founded in 2007 that runs salary surveys and advisory services for French production sites and OETAM workers, covering 600 sites and 130,000 employees via payroll-sourced benchmarking. It sells through direct outreach and 15 professional federations as an Arthur Hunt network partner.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
C & B ALTERNATIVE industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Compensation and HR Consulting
- NAICS
- Accounting, Tax Preparation, Bookkeeping, and Payroll Services (5412)
- SIC
- Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Compensation, Benefits & Rewards Consulting (BPAHAGAF)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Compensation, Benefits & Total Rewards Advisory (BPACAJAG)
Keywords
Where C & B ALTERNATIVE is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Paris
- HQ country
- France
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
C & B ALTERNATIVE business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Salary Survey Subscriptions and Reports: Companies and professional associations subscribe to participate in annual compensation surveys. Participating companies receive national and regional positioning reports for their employees and sites. Data collection runs June–November with results delivered from mid-December.
- Custom Consulting and Advisory Services: Tailored consulting engagements covering compensation strategy development, job evaluation plans, variable/incentive program creation, external market analysis, and manager training. Provided in collaboration with Arthur Hunt Consulting. Revenue generated through project-based professional services engagements.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Annual | Salary Survey Participation — pricing varies by company size, number of sites, and job types surveyed. |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels4 records
C & B ALTERNATIVE product offering
Product offeringCore offering
C&B Alternative provides specialized compensation surveys focused on production jobs and the OETAM (Operatives, Employees, Technicians, Supervisors) population in France, plus custom advisory services for compensation strategy, job evaluation, variable compensation program creation, and external market analysis. Data is collected via electronic questionnaires and derived exclusively from clients' payroll software (no self-reported figures), covering base salary, bonuses, seniority premiums, overtime, profit-sharing, and other compensation components across national and regional panels.
Product overview
C&B Alternative is a compensation consulting firm offering a portfolio of salary survey products and consulting services. Their core offerings consist of five specialized salary survey types: (1) OETAM/Production Jobs Survey for blue-collar workers and technicians, (2) Operational Managers Survey covering 9 business lines with 3 responsibility levels each, (3) Marketing and Sales Survey segmented by market type and region, (4) Salary Increase Budgets Survey for annual industrial sector benchmarking, and (5) Custom Surveys tailored to specific client needs. Complementing these products, they provide consulting services for compensation strategy development, job evaluation, variable compensation program creation, and market analysis. Data collection occurs via electronic questionnaires with results derived exclusively from clients' payroll software.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Enquête OETAM - Métiers de la Production Salary survey focused on OETAM (Operatives, Employees, Technicians, Supervisors) and production jobs, providing national and regional compensation benchmarks with qualitative HR practice analysis and quantitative salary positioning. Targeted at HR and compensation managers in industrial and production companies.
- Enquête Cadres Opérationnels Compensation survey for operational managers across industrial sites, covering 9 business lines (Direction, Production, Technique, Logistique, QHSE/méthodes, Finance, RH, R&D, Achat) with 3 responsibility levels each, providing national and regional salary positioning for middle and senior management roles.
- Enquête Métiers du Marketing et Force de Vente Compensation survey distinguishing between market types (GMS, RHD), product types, and regions (Île-de-France, Régions), covering both qualitative aspects (company car policy, expense reimbursement) and quantitative compensation components for marketing and sales-force functions.
- Enquête Budgets d'Augmentation Annual survey on projected salary increase budgets for industrial sectors, covering individual and general increases for current and next fiscal year, broken down by professional category, amplitude, and distribution, intended to support annual salary review planning.
- Enquête sur-mesure Custom salary survey tailored to a specific industry sector or set of job positions, with questions, statistical evaluations, and key themes determined based on client needs; typically commissioned by professional federations or individual companies.
- Conseil sur-mesure en Rémunération Custom consulting engagement covering compensation strategy development and implementation, evaluation of compensation policies, job evaluation plans, variable/incentive compensation program creation, external market analysis, and manager training; delivered in collaboration with Arthur Hunt Consulting.
Quantifiable outcome
- 130,000 employees analyzed through payroll data across 600 production sites and 15 professional federations
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use C & B ALTERNATIVE
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
C & B ALTERNATIVE technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
C & B ALTERNATIVE partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- Arthur HuntcoreC&B Alternative has been a member of the Arthur Hunt network since 2012, positioning itself as a partner of the Arthur Hunt Group. The firm collaborates with Arthur Hunt Consulting on custom advisory engagements, combining C&B Alternative's specialized OETAM compensation expertise with Arthur Hunt's broader HR consulting capabilities. Arthur Hunt provides access to a wider consulting ecosystem and cross-selling opportunities across HR and compensation practice areas.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights4 records
C & B ALTERNATIVE competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Mercer (Marsh McLennan): Global consulting leader in health, wealth, and career, with a major compensation and benefits benchmarking practice (Mercer Compensation Surveys). Overlaps with C&B Alternative in salary benchmarking and rewards consulting for multinational and large French clients.
- Aon: Global professional services firm with a dedicated Human Capital practice offering compensation benchmarking, Radford surveys, and rewards advisory. A broad incumbent that overlaps with C&B Alternative in compensation surveys but serves primarily larger enterprise and cross-border mandates.
- Korn Ferry: Global organizational consulting firm offering compensation, rewards, and talent management services. Comparable to C&B Alternative in compensation advisory but operates at a much broader and more senior-executive-focused level rather than OETAM/production roles.
- Willis Towers Watson (WTW): Global HR consulting and actuarial firm offering comprehensive compensation surveys (e.g., French Compensation Survey) and HR advisory. A broad incumbent that competes with C&B Alternative in compensation benchmarking but lacks the same depth in French OETAM/production worker specialization.
Emerging players
- Pave: US-based compensation management SaaS platform offering real-time benchmarking, pay range tools, and HR analytics. An emerging player representing the technology-driven competitive threat to traditional survey-based consulting like C&B Alternative, though currently focused on tech and US markets.
- Ravio: European compensation benchmarking platform providing real-time, peer-sourced salary data for tech and adjacent sectors. An emerging player that represents the SaaS-based disruption to traditional survey consultancies, though primarily serving the tech ecosystem rather than industrial OETAM roles.
Regional players
- Hays France: International recruitment firm with a French operation that publishes salary guides and compensation benchmarks by sector. Comparable to C&B Alternative through its salary benchmarking content aimed at French employers, especially in industrial and technical job families.
- Michael Page (PageGroup): Major recruitment firm that publishes annual salary surveys and compensation benchmarking reports for the French market across multiple functions. Comparable through its salary benchmark content for French employers, though its primary business is permanent and temporary placement rather than pure compensation consulting.
- Robert Half France: Specialized recruitment firm publishing the well-known Salary Guide for the French market, with detailed compensation data across finance, accounting, and operational roles. Comparable to C&B Alternative as a regional salary benchmark publisher serving French employers.
Direct peers
- Arthur Hunt Group: French HR consulting network of which C&B Alternative has been a member since 2012. Arthur Hunt offers broader HR and compensation consulting and is both a partner and a closely related peer, with overlapping service offerings in compensation strategy and HR advisory for French mid-market clients.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
C & B ALTERNATIVE financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
C & B ALTERNATIVE leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
C & B ALTERNATIVE funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
C & B ALTERNATIVE M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about C & B ALTERNATIVE
What does C & B ALTERNATIVE do?
C&B Alternative provides specialized compensation surveys focused on production jobs and the OETAM (Operatives, Employees, Technicians, Supervisors) population in France, plus custom advisory services for compensation strategy, job evaluation, variable compensation program creation, and external market analysis. Data is collected via electronic questionnaires and derived exclusively from clients' payroll software (no self-reported figures), covering base salary, bonuses, seniority premiums, overtime, profit-sharing, and other compensation components across national and regional panels.
Is C & B ALTERNATIVE a public or private company?
C & B ALTERNATIVE is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was C & B ALTERNATIVE founded?
C & B ALTERNATIVE was founded in 2007. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is C & B ALTERNATIVE based?
C & B ALTERNATIVE is headquartered in Paris, France, in the Europe region.
How does C & B ALTERNATIVE make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Salary Survey Subscriptions and Reports are the primary driver. The others are custom Consulting and Advisory Services.
Who are C & B ALTERNATIVE's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Mercer (Marsh McLennan), Aon, Korn Ferry and Willis Towers Watson (WTW). Emerging players are Pave and Ravio. Regional players are Hays France, Michael Page (PageGroup) and Robert Half France. Arthur Hunt Group is listed as a direct peer.
Does C & B ALTERNATIVE have an API?
No public API is recorded for C & B ALTERNATIVE.
What industry is C & B ALTERNATIVE in?
C & B ALTERNATIVE's product category is Compensation and HR Consulting. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAHAGAF, Compensation, Benefits & Rewards Consulting, with a secondary code of BPACAJAG, Compensation, Benefits & Total Rewards Advisory. Its NAICS code is 5412 and its SIC code is 8742.