The leaders of Orange could almost want to take to the streets to protest against the pension reform. By promising to postpone the retirement age to 64 and to extend the contribution period, the government’s project promises to be costly for the telecom operator.
In December 2021, during the renewal for one year of its senior part-time scheme (TPS) authorizing its oldest employees to retire early, Orange had agreed to include a safeguard clause to protect the beneficiaries of a possible reform. It took him badly. The operator is still struggling to precisely quantify the additional cost, but it could be around six additional months per employee, if the current government project is successful.
Reform or not, the TPS will cost Orange more than expected. Seeing the arrival of the government plan, many employees of the still hesitant group decided in the very last weeks of 2022 to take the device before the deadline of December 31. Result, according to the last count obtained by The world7,600 employees of Orange France, the only entity concerned, activated their TPS.
“Dysfunctions and work overload”
Initially, the group had budgeted in its 2021 accounts that the device would cost it 1.225 billion euros. Given the number of beneficiaries greater than the initial assumptions, the bill looks more salty. The exact figure should be given on February 16, during the presentation of the results for 2022, the date on which Christel Heydemann, CEO of Orange since April 2022, must also unveil her strategic plan.
In the Orange France teams, whose general manager, Fabienne Dulac, will hand over to Jean-François Fallacher on April 3, we are concerned to see so many colleagues leave at the same time, sometimes very quickly depending on the balance of leave accumulated by some. The 7,600 TPS in 2022 represent almost 10% of the total workforce of the French entity. Half of the beneficiaries come from central and support functions.
“Some departments have seen more than 20% of their employees leave, which creates dysfunctions and a work overload for those who remain”, worries a staff representative, who fears an increased use of subcontracting. Technical skills are also sometimes lacking. These 7,600 are in addition to the 11,900 employees who benefited, as of December 31, 2021, from previous TPS agreements.
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