the business branch is considering nearly 700 job cuts

The branch dedicated to companies of the operator Orange (“Orange Business”) is considering the elimination of nearly 700 jobs as part of its strategic plan, we learned Monday from a union source, confirming information from the daily The world.

Orange management must make these announcements this week during a social and economic committee.

Nearly 700 positions are affected out of the 5,700 in SCE, the Orange Business entity concerned by this plan, Vincent Gimeno, salaried administrator of the CFDT of Orange, told AFP.

The growing cloud, data management and even cybersecurity activities are not affected by these job cuts, assures a source close to the company.

“The market in which Orange Business operates is undergoing profound changes in uses and technologies with a significant decline in the profitability of its traditional (telecoms) activities not offset to date by its digital services integrator activities (data, cloud, cybersecurity ) despite strong growth,” she said.

The first departure plan since “the suicide crisis”

In 2022, the profitability of Orange Business fell with a gross operating surplus after rents (Ebitdaal), down 18.8% compared to the previous financial year.

Orange Business wants to propose a collective conventional break, but this requires obtaining a majority agreement with the trade unions.

In the event of failure, the operator will have to go through a voluntary departure plan, which would be “the first since the suicide crisis that there was at France Telecom” in 2008-2009, according to Vincent Gimeno, employee administrator of the CFDT of Orange.

Orange has so far managed to reduce its workforce in France without resorting to it, through the senior part-time scheme (TPS), from which 42,000 employees have benefited since 2010, according to The world.

During the presentation of her strategic plan in mid-February, Christel Heydemann, CEO of Orange, stressed the need for an “ambitious and demanding transformation plan” for Orange Business to enable it to return to the growth of its profitability (Ebitdaal) “by 2025 at the latest”.