Nortel is cutting 180 employees in France, or 16% of the its workforce in the country. It’s certainly not a big number but symbolically this is a huge move given French employees work within a strong union and they are extremely well paid. The employees who were cut work within Nortel’s second-generation wireless operations.
This is not the first time that the French workforce was trimmed. In fact, it has been trimmed several times since 2002.
The union are strong indeed, as are the rights of workers. The procedure to implement a “plan social” (plan to trim) are cumbersome, yet Nortel pulled the trigger several times since 2002. The symbolism may be stronger over here than in France, where it has become a sad periodic reality.
I am not going to weep over French salaries, but to say that Nortel French employees are “extremely well paid”, begs the question. Compared to whom?
They are paid less than US, Canadian and British Nortel employees, and more than Indian and Chinese Nortel employees. The pay is comparable to other technology employers in France. So, “extremely well paid” compared to whom?
still a Nortel slave
Finally, some justice!
“French employees work within a strong union and they are extremely well paid”
Yeah, well paid and worthless. Work about 30 hrs a week and take 3 months off for vacation. Nortel’s GSM is headed out of France which is why its such a piece of crap….
I get sick and tired of the French and their labor laws, i am sure lawsuits will come out of it because its hard to get fired over there. You will see that getting rid of 16% of the workforce will not even budge the productivity.
many
I wonder what the loaded labor rate is in France? I suspect that all in all the quality of life (social perks + salary) makes the French very well paid compared to the Americans and Canadians. They are definitely less stressed and eat better
Productivity? If nortel were concerned about productivity, it would be interested in the actual goods and services produced in relation to wages, stock options and other perks paid to those who hold a position of vice president and above (including board members). If nortel wanted to see a productivity increase it would reduce the ratio of VPs to workers.
Employee #27659
There are about half as many VPs since Zafirovski took over the ship. This is a good thing. Now all they need to do is eliminate the remaining layers between first line managers and VPs. Fortunately some of deadwood in France was divested thru the UMTS sale. Now all that needs to be done is selling GSM. Perhaps Alcatel can help again ?
Nortel Trims French Workforce
Nortel is cutting 180 employees in France, or 16% of the its workforce in the country. It’s certainly not a big number but symbolically this is a huge move given French employees work within a strong union and they are extremely well paid. The employees who were cut work within Nortel’s second-generation wireless operations.