The Mulliez galaxy brand presented major employment protection plan (PSE) projects to representatives of its more than 53,000 employees in France. The meeting began at 9 a.m., in an Ibis in Neuville-en-Ferrain, in the suburbs of Lille, in the presence of several union delegates.
“If the figures circulating are confirmed, this is the biggest social plan we have ever known at Auchan,” said Christophe Delay, FO national delegate in the parking lot in front of the hotel, before the start of the meeting. “It’s catastrophic. This will leave many, many employees and families in difficulty. It’s shocking, scandalous,” said Franck Martineau, FO Auchan Retail union representative, indignantly, after learning the precise number of job cuts. “The company will have to make very significant efforts to support its employees,” added Gilles Martin, CFDT Groupe Auchan-France delegate.
Closures. Auchan plans a weight loss cure at different levels. First, a pooling of support functions between different entities within its headquarters, for a total of 784 positions potentially affected. A “more agile and autonomous” organization of its network of stores, for a possible total of 915 positions threatened, then, as well as the closure of three warehouses ensuring direct home delivery activity, in Paris, Lille and Lyon, which would result in the elimination of 224 positions.
Finally, the closure of around ten stores, “whose sources of loss are such that it is difficult to see a solution in the short term”, according to a source close to management, for a total of 466 positions threatened . They are mainly located in three hypermarkets in Clermont-Ferrand Nord (Puy-de-Dôme), Woippy (Moselle) and Bar-le-Duc (Meuse), and in a supermarket in Aurillac (Cantal).
A total of 2,389 positions are threatened. Management hopes to limit the number of redundancies through support for the employees concerned, retraining, reclassification leave and a voluntary departure plan. It also provides for the creation of 114 positions in “drive” activities and 205 within support functions.
Difficulties. Auchan Retail had already announced in September 2020 the elimination of 1,475 positions in France, after a voluntary departure plan of more than 500 positions in January of the same year.
Long considered one of the best-performing players in social terms within mass distribution, Auchan has had a series of bad economic years and its holding company Elo Groupe announced in July a net loss of almost a billion euros on the first six months of 2024.
Several factors explain Auchan's difficulties in France: firstly its market share, at 9.1% at the last count, which makes it the 5th player in the French market, far behind the leader E.Leclerc (24.1%). ), Carrefour (21.4%) and Mousquetaires/Intermarché (17.4%). Cooperative U is intercalated, at 12.2%. This position limiting its negotiating power with suppliers, Auchan formed an alliance with Intermarché to purchase jointly, in order to improve its purchasing conditions over the long term (10 years).
“A way.” In addition, Auchan, like Carrefour, operates on an integrated model, unlike brands like E.Leclerc and Intermarché which rely on a network of independents. This integrated model generates higher operating costs, which impacts price competitiveness. To remedy this, Auchan is seeking to pool its support functions.
Finally, Auchan plans to reduce the size of 65 of its stores by 25%, aiming for smaller areas of 8,000 m². Vacant spaces could be occupied by other brands, while the range of products, particularly non-food, would be reduced, due to growing competition from online commerce.
However, this strategy is not a “degrowth project”, assured the general director of Auchan, Guillaume Darrasse, to several media including AFP. “Reducing costs is a means, not an end,” he said.
Corentin DAUTREPPE with Zoé LEROY in Lille
© Agence France-Presse
