The DIY brand Castorama is planning a voluntary departure plan which could affect up to 100 employees at its headquarters near Lille, or one in seven, while its competitor Leroy Merlin also recently reduced its workforce in its central functions.
“The collective contractual termination only applies to voluntary employees at the brand's headquarters. No store employees are affected,” Castorama said in a press release received on Friday.
This system is part of a Castorama strategic plan launched in March, which aims to restore its profitability and help it remain competitive “in a constantly evolving competitive context”, added the company.
A brand of the British group Kingfisher, Castorama has a total of more than 11,000 employees and 95 stores in France.
After experiencing a DIY boom during the Covid-19 pandemic, the sector is becoming disillusioned in France.
In the third quarter, Castorama sales fell 4.9% year-on-year, according to the latest Kingfisher results published on Monday. The British group, also owner of Brico Dépôt (whose sales declined by 3.3% over the same period), put these poor figures down to “weak consumer morale and unfavorable weather conditions”.
Castorama's great rival, Leroy Merlin has also carried out a collective contractual termination in recent months at its headquarters in Lezennes, in the Lille suburbs, leading to the departure of 130 employees, the brand told AFP on Friday, confirming information Echoes.
Leroy Merlin's turnover “recorded a decline in line with the market”, added a spokesperson, without providing further details. “The main cause is the drop in real estate transactions and births”, which reduces the work carried out by the French, she explained.
With around 30,000 employees and 144 stores in France according to its site, Leroy Merlin belongs to the Mulliez galaxy, also owner of the distributor Auchan, which announced at the beginning of November a massive social plan threatening 2,389 jobs in France.
