In France, nothing is impossible! <g> What exactly do you mean when you ask if she can obtain legal work status?

What I suspect you're looking for is a carte residente with working privileges, so that she can go look for a job after you arrive. That's probably the most difficult to manage. (If you were staying longer than 2 years, there would be a better shot, but it can take 2 years to change the visa status once you're there.) It would be much better if she could arrange for a job before your arrival, and then, in essence she'd enter the country on her own work visa.

If she comes into France on your visa (or on a dependent's visa, which is I think how they do it now), then she is labelled as "not eligible to work in France." No legit employer will consider her for a job unless her working priviileges are already sorted out.

What is often done is that the company doing the transfer for you may either offer your wife a job, or arrange for her to be employed by another company in France (say, a related company or a supplier or something) so that she will get her own working visa rather than entering the country under yours. Like visas in the US, the working privileges are tied to the one employer and she won't be able to change jobs once over there.

The other option is "informal" work - some English language schools will hire native speakers to teach without papers (ok, it's not legal, and those that hire in this way don't pay what the job is worth) or she could do things like tutoring (big demand for that) - stick a card up in the local bakery or butcher shop and go for it.

They are very sensitive in France about foreigners taking "their" jobs (sound familiar? <g>) and generally trailing spouses aren't granted working privileges once they arrive.