News

France Telecom has released details of its plans to address the "social crisis" the company has been facing in recent months.



Since mid-2009, the company has been under fire due to instances of suicide by its staff, and in particular, the frequent relationship between working conditions / stress and decision to commit suicide.



France Telecom will recruit 3,500 people in 2010 in order to reduce work loads and stress. The company has also said that job transfers will be voluntary and not mandatory. CEO Stéphane Richard, says that senior managers will see 30 to 50% of their remuneration based on performance, including social performance measured according to factors like employee attendance and satisfaction. France Telecom will also ensure that managers receive "sensitivity" training and that decision-making is more decentralised.



Union leaders are critical. Pierre Dubois of the CFDT said that the plan does not go far enough and that there may not be enough new people hired to set appropriate work load levels. Nabyl Beldjoudi of the Force Ouvriere said that the plan sounds like a series of emergency responses and does not represent a comprehensive national strategy to deal with "psycho-social risks".



Despite this, both unions acknowledged that the company's plan moves in the right direction and is establishing new ground.



According to a group hired by France Telecom to monitor stress levels, 11 France Telecom staff have committed suicide since January 2010.