Vodafone announces an ERE in Spain for 515 employees

The company has called on the unions to start the consultation period at the end of September with a view to closing the file in October.

The company attributes the job cuts to the circumstances of the Spanish market, marked by strong competition and a trend towards 'low cost', which resulted in losses of 432 million euros in 2020 for the Spanish subsidiary of the European operator.

The teleco has its own low-cost brand, Lowi, which added 236,000 clients during the year to reach 1.2 million users through very aggressive offers.

"The decision to initiate this procedure is justified by economic, productive and organizational reasons, and is encouraged by the market trend in the telecommunications sector and by the need to improve its operational performance by accelerating its digital transformation strategy," he says in a statement.

However, the company has indicated in a statement its commitment to "create new profiles" over the next year and recalled that its artificial intelligence research center in Malaga will generate 600 highly qualified jobs.

Second sector adjustment in months

The Vodafone ERE is the second carried out by the main companies in the sector in months after the one carried out by Orange during the summer and which has resulted in the voluntary departure of 400 workers from the company. Of these departures, 234 were early retirements.

In the case of the French company, the union bargaining resulted in the introduction of the voluntary principle and a reduction in departures, as well as an increase in early retirement and improved conditions.

The telecommunications sector has been losing income and jobs in Spain for years due to commercial pressure that has deteriorated margins. Vodafone Spain entered 4,166 million euros in its fiscal year 2020-2021, which represents a fall of 3% compared to the figures of a year before.