The management of the distribution group confirmed this during a meeting with the social partners. Nearly 1,000 positions could be affected.
Precisely, these are 979 departures at Carrefour which are likely to occur only at the level of the seats in France and not of the stores or warehouses. Carrefour has headquarters in Massy and Evry (Essonne) and Mondeville (Calvados) where a total of 7,000 people work. Departures will only take place on a strictly voluntary basis, no forced departure, and within the framework of social support itself strictly defined.
>> Draft law on “value sharing”: participation, profit-sharing, shareholding… What exactly are we talking about?
This is a global reorganization that should melt the European workforce. However, Carrefour earns money. Last year, the distributor achieved a turnover close to 91 billion euros (up 16% over one year) for a remaining profit of 1.35 billion euros (26% better than in 2021). But if the company wants to survive in the context of strong competition and face the costs – current and future – of the digital and energy transition, it must lighten its structures. This is the case for any company today, but the magnifying effect is proportional to the size of the companies concerned.
Strategic plan
The boss of Carrefour, Alexandre Bompard, has never hidden his intentions. The reorganization is part of the strategic plan set for 2026. At the end of last year, Alexandre Bompard announced a new savings plan to cut costs to the tune of four billion euros. The adjustment variable being the workforce in each of the European headquarters, the structural costs, independent of the strike forces in the field in the stores that are not affected. A “simplification shock“, we explain internally.
Position of trade unions
The trade union centers accuse Alexandre Bompard, former boss of Fnac, of practicing a social breakage without making noise since his arrival in 2017. A policy made possible in the eyes of the unions by the passage of many stores in lease-management. A kind of franchise that allows Carrefour to retain ownership of the business while outsourcing store management.
Second largest distributor in France behind Leclerc, Carrefour now has more than 320,000 employees worldwide. After having been the leading employer in France with 115,000 people, the group now employs 85,000 employees in France alone.