Telecom Italia to cut 7,500 jobs, hire 2,000 by 2020 - report

Telecom Italia (TIM) has informed trade unions that it plans to cut its 60,000-strong domestic workforce by 7,500 via incentivised layoffs and early retirement by 2020. The company also wants to recruit 2,000 new staff and fund their contracts by reducing the working hours of its remaining employees by 20 minutes a day, according to union sources cited by Reuters. The aim is to save some EUR 400 million a year, according to analysts. At the end of 2015, the group negotiated a number of so-called solidarity contracts with unions, under which employees agreed to work less on condition that nobody would be laid off.

TIM has yet to publish any official statements on the matter but the sources added that the group wants to reach an agreement with unions by 06 March, the date on which it’s due to present its latest business plan. The idea behind the planned layoffs and new recruits is reduce the average age of the company’s workforce and bring in new ideas, according to another source.