Telefonica invites unions for talks ahead of expected job cuts

Telefonica to Discuss Job Cuts with Unions in Upcoming Meeting

Telefonica's Strategy and Workforce Impact

MADRID (Reuters) -Spanish telecoms group Telefonica will meet union leaders next week to discuss its new strategy, the unions said on Wednesday, with the plan widely expected to involve voluntary redundancies to meet savings targets. 

Details of the Meeting with Unions

The three unions with most representation within the company - UGT, CCOO and Sumados-Fetico - have been invited to a November 17 meeting, UGT and CCOO representatives confirmed after local media reports.

Projected Job Losses and Financial Goals

A spokesperson for UGT said the company sent an internal memo late on Tuesday in which it told union representatives that it would provide details of last week's capital markets day. The memo made no mention of redundancies, the spokesperson added.

Previous Redundancy Plans and Outcomes

Telefonica declined to comment.  

The five-year plan announced last week by CEO Marc Murtra is designed to cut about 3 billion euros ($3.5 billion) of costs by 2030. 

Telefonica has 25,000 employees in Spain, accounting for about a quarter of its global workforce.

Newspaper CincoDias reported on Tuesday that the projected cuts would affect between 5,000 and 6,000 jobs, citing unnamed company sources. Expansion newspaper, meanwhile, said the job losses could be as high as 7,000, also citing unnamed company sources.  

Asked directly whether Telefonica would implement a voluntary redundancy plan, operations chief Emilio Gaya said on a call with analysts that any such move would be carried out in full agreement with union representatives.

Telefonica's previous redundancy plan resulted in the voluntary departure of 3,420 employees after a deal with unions finalised in January 2024.

($1 = 0.8575 euros)

(Reporting by David LatonaEditing by David Goodman)