Restructuring events
European Restructuring Monitor (ERM)
The restructuring events database contains factsheets with data on large-scale restructuring events reported in the principal national media and company websites in each EU Member State. This database was created in 2002.
On February 15, 2019, the French retail multinational Carrefour presented its industrial plan 2019-2022, which entails the significant restructuring of its ipermarkets network and redundancies for around 590 workers (450 among salespeople and another 140 among administrative staff at the main company office in Milan).
This decision is connected with the longstanding profitability crisis of ipermarkets in Italy, which pushed Carrefour to strengthen smaller salespoints, the e-commerce and its own label products.
The company expressed its willingness to negotiate with the trade unions in order to minimize the employment impact of this decision, also through the use of social shock absorbers. The trade unions, however, defined the plan as unsustainable because of the request to reduce salaries ahead of the upcoming collective contract renewal negotiation in May.
Update, 06/06/2019: An agreement has been reached between the company and the trade unions concerning redundancies. They have been reduced to 580 and will all take place on a voluntary basis. Moreover, workers accepting to leave the company will benefit of an exit incentive that covers the difference between the unemployment benefit and their salaries.
Eurofound (2019), Carrefour Italia, Internal restructuring in Italy, factsheet number 97619, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/97619.