In difficulty, the automotive supplier announced this Wednesday, November 27 that it wanted to eliminate nearly 1,000 positions in the country. Its factories in La Suze-sur-Sarthe and La Verrière will close.
The automobile industry and its subcontractors have been in turmoil in recent months. New illustration, this Wednesday, November 27: the automotive supplier Valeo announces that it wants to eliminate 868 positions on eight of its French sites, indicated the management of the group, without specifying the deadline.
Valeo management has announced to employees 694 forced departures and 174 voluntary departures, according to a spokesperson for the group, but the total could reach 1,282 cuts if employees refuse to change site, according to the Force Ouvrière union. The company informed employees of its intention to close the sites of La Verrière (Yvelines, around 580 employees) and La Suze-sur-Sarthe, which employs 270 people. Most of their employees will be offered positions at other nearby Valeo sites, according to the company. The L'Isle-d'Abeau (Isère) site will not close, but will reduce its workforce, with 70 employees instead of 308 so far.
1,282 job cuts according to Force Ouvrière
According to the Force Ouvrière (FO) union, the total would in fact be 1,282 job cuts, out of 13,500 employees in France, if the employees refuse their transfer and if we also take into account vacant positions eliminated. The sites of Sainte-Florine (Haute-Loire), Reims (Marne), Laval (Mayenne), Amiens (Somme) and Limoges (Haute-Vienne) are also affected. In addition, 200 positions could be cut in Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland.
This announcement is “a project” dont “the timetable and modalities will be discussed afterwards”, said the group's spokesperson. “We worked to have a plan that protects production operators,” who are not affected by forced departures, he stressed.
“It’s a dramatic announcement,” reacted Bertrand Bellanger, from FO. “Reducing costs may be necessary, but sacrificing jobs and weakening the future of the sector in France is a strategic error, he judged. The electrification of the automobile represents a major turning point for the sector. But it must not be to the detriment of employees.”
The Valeo group had already announced in January that it was considering cutting 1,150 positions worldwide, including 235 in France, mainly in management positions, out of 109,900 employees worldwide. It is yet another giant in the automotive sector to suffer from the slowdown in the European automobile market and to announce job cuts, after Michelin, Ford and Bosch.
