Type
Internal restructuring
Country
France
Region
Location of affected unit(s)
Sector
Information / Communication
Computer Programming, Consultancy And Related Activities
Computer Programming, Consultancy And Related Activities
62.02 - Computer consultancy activities

138 jobs
Number of planned job losses
Job loss
Announcement Date
16 March 2017
Employment effect (start)
16 May 2017
Foreseen end date
31 December 2017

Description

Unisys France, the French subsidiary of the worldwide information technology services and solutions company Unisys, has announced that it will cut 138 positions in France (37% of its workforce) in the framework of an EU wide restructuring. The job reduction will mainly consist of forced dismissals. The job cuts will affect the sales workforce and senior positions; unions expect that the consequence will be that no more contracts will be signed with customers in a near future. Therefore they are expecting a closure of the French subsidiary by 2020 as all the current contracts will ended between 2018 and 2020. According the CFE-CGC union, Unisys has already closed nine subsidiaries in the EU (Sweden, Portugal, Denmark, and some Eastern Europe countries). Unisys aims is to located the activities form its former subsidiaries in its headquarter in London.  

The US group Unisys employs 23,000 employees worldwide for a turnover of $3 billions. But as it has a debt of about $2.3 billions it has to launch a reorganisation to increase its cash flow. Before 2000, the French subsidiary employed about 3,000 people, in comparison to 378 currently.  The unions has asked the management to remove the employment safeguard plan, but negotiations are still on-going on the content.  The works council will adopt its position by mid-April. Unions also remarked that the company received various state contributions in the recent years.


Sources

  • 16 March 2017: Le Monde Informatique
  • 16 March 2017: Le Figaro

Citation

Eurofound (2017), Unisys France, Internal restructuring in France, factsheet number 90604, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/90604.