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.
Administrative Services Office Administrative, Office Support And Other Business Support Activities Activities Of Call Centres 82.20 - Activities of call centres
0 - 1,600 jobs Number of planned job losses
Announcement Date
16 July 2019
Employment effect (start)
Foreseen end date
Description
The call centre company Almaviva Contact announced that in the first ten days of September it will open a collective dismissal procedure involving 1,600 operators of its site in Palermo.
During a meeting at the employer association Sicindustria, Almaviva Contact presented to the trade unions the economic data of the Palermo office, which show a loss of €5.7 million. Furthermore, the company informed the trade union delegation that, with the exception of some temporary increases that will exclusively concern the months of July and August, the clients have not proposed any increase in volumes useful to consolidate jobs at the Palermo site.
The trade unions expressed strong preoccupation and asked for the involvement of public institutions.
Update, 25/09/2019: A summit between the call centre company, the trade unions and the ministers of labour and Southern Italy, ended with an agreement suspending the layoffs announced by Almaviva Contact, at least until March 2020. The agreement entails an extension of solidarity contracts, already applied to the workforce, for the next six months. This transitional solution should allow to discuss a more comprehensive intervention for the problems of the telecommunications sector and, in particular, outsourcing and downwards price competition issues. A negotiation table at the Ministry of Labour has already been called for October 14.
Digitisation and automation technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), can affect working conditions in a variety of ways and their use in the workplace raises a host of new ethical concerns.
The retail banking sector is fertile ground for studying the impacts of digitalisation on work and employment. Financial services are increasingly provided online, without the intermediary of customer-facing institutions.
European labour markets have recovered strongly from COVID-19. By the end of 2021, little more than 18 months after the start of the pandemic, employment rates in the EU were almost at pre-crisis levels.
