The rumor had been circulating for several weeks, coinciding with the installation of the head office of Scopelec in the Abbey-school of Sorèze, a magnificent residence nestled in the Tarn countryside to the south-east of Toulouse. According to the General Confederation of Cooperative and Participatory Societies (CG SCOP), Scopelec would be “Threatened by Orange from the non-renewal of a market for the operation and maintenance of telecom networks to the tune of 150 million euros per year”, out of a total turnover of 463.9 million in 2020.
More than 1,800 jobs would be threatened, including 600 in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, 500 in Occitanie and 300 in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. This decision is “Incomprehensible and unjustifiable”, considers Jacques Landriot, president of CG SCOP, who claims to have “Warned the presidents of the regions concerned as well as the prime minister, [Jean Castex] “ “Orange, | him], has not answered us for a fortnight “, while the period is marked by the announcement, on November 24, of the departure of the CEO of the operator, Stéphane Richard.
Scopelec is the largest SCOP in France with 3,800 employees, who hold 74.8% of the capital. The company has been a subcontractor to the incumbent operator since its creation in 1973, mainly in telecommunications infrastructure and technologies. In particular, it has made more than 2 million sockets with optical fiber technology connectable on behalf of its clients, since 2014.
Increasing use of subcontracting
Orange launches new calls for tenders in its markets every three years. So far, the operator has regularly renewed its confidence in Scopelec. But the latter is in the process of losing two of the three lots it held, the most important, on the occasion of the next renewal scheduled for spring 2022. Thomas Foppiani, the chairman of the management board of the company, did not wish react at this stage, specifying to be still “In discussions with Orange”, especially around the third part of the market, which is also threatened.
The telecommunications sector is marked by the increasingly important recourse to subcontracting to autoentrepreneurs and posted workers, in particular within the framework of the deployment of optical fiber in France. And this, while Orange presented, in 2019, a strategic plan, called “Engage 2025”, supposed “Promote the conditions for a sustainable and responsible transformation”.
“Accounting logic”
In a letter sent, Friday, December 3, to the management of Orange, the PS president of Occitanie, Carole Delga, denounces “The accounting logic that motivates today [leur] project by choosing a new service provider [situé] in Luxembourg “. The elected representative defends the social model of Scopelec, “In a very competitive sector, where self-entrepreneurship and posted work are developing”.
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