Vodafone’s ERE will result in a total of 409 departures, 7.4% less than the 442 previously agreed, of which 53 will be forced dismissals, after a intense negotiation between company and unions to reduce the number of layoffs once volunteers did not fill the quota.
The company has vetoed the march of 37 workers, Although it has been opened to reconsider these vetoes or forced exits via relocations in the company, since some affected workers are in the process of being selected for other vacancies within the operator.
In addition, the adjustment will include 75 early retirements, of which two have been forced by the company.
This Wednesday was the first day that Vodafone’s own stores began operating with an external distributor and the more than 230 employees They have left the company, after taking advantage of the compensation proposed by the company, which also offered to continue working with the distributors.
The rest of the departures must take place before January 31 and the union representation trusts in delaying them in order to increase the number of job placement and continue to reduce the impact on employment at the firm.
The company attributes the ERE to the conditions of the Spanish market, with a tendency to ‘low cost’, and to changes to the template and the sales demanded by digitization.
The conditions
Workers affected by the ERE will leave the company with compensation of 50 days per year worked with a cap of 33 monthly payments, in line with the conditions agreed in 2019.
In addition, workers with less than 30,000 euros gross salary will have a bonus of 6,000 euros.
For their part, early retired employees will leave the operator with income equivalent to 85% of the fixed salary To which must be added 50% of the variable remuneration for a period of between five and seven years depending on age, a 1% revaluation and a special agreement with Social Security.
Employees who voluntarily join the ERE and do not belong to the stores will have a commitment to no competition for 6 months for an amount of 3 months of the regulatory salary.
Likewise, the external relocation process will be extended to a minimum of 12 months, and may include spouses who are unemployed, and with an extension until the achievement of 100% of relocations.
Employment in the sector
In the last year, the three main operators of telephony and connectivity have made or are in the process of making an employment adjustment.
While Orange agreed to the voluntary departure of 400 employees in an ERE, Telefónica negotiates a plan for voluntary departures without charge to Social Security for up to 2,500 workers over 54 years of age.
In the case of Vodafone, this is the fourth adjustment process in less than ten years, representing a loss of more than 3,000 workers in this period.
Since it peaked in the late 20th century, employment in the telecommunications sector has fallen by 40,000 people according to data collected by the National Commission for Competition Markets.
The main companies in the sector and the unions blame this on the regulatory model that hinders the consolidation of the sector and has eroded margins.
This same week, representatives of the first European telecos have called on the European Union to rethink its competition policy to facilitate mergers and that force the internet giants to pay for the traffic they generate.
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