Scopelec, one of Orange’s main subcontractors in difficulty since the loss of a major contract with the incumbent telecom operator, announced on Wednesday July 6 a safeguard plan providing for the dismissal of “several hundred of its employees “. The number of employees concerned should be around 500 to 550, a source familiar with the matter told Agence France-Presse, below the 800 layoffs mentioned for a moment by the actors of the company. This wave of dismissals comes on top of more than 1,000 departures, whether voluntary or whether it concerns employees taken over by other companies in the sector. These departures have already taken place, since the start of the crisis at the end of 2021. The group then had 3,600 employees, said the same source.
“As a result of the loss of the Orange markets, the company will still have to lay off several hundred of its employees, and will seek to implement a social restructuring that best respects its societal commitments within the framework of the safeguard procedure. “said the group on Wednesday in a press release.
Scopelec also announced the departure “in the coming months” of its chairman of the management board, Thomas Foppiani. Management has “started the process” to find him a successor. “The company salutes the work carried out by Thomas Foppiani throughout his mandate and particularly during the last seven tense months which have seen him work towards a solution with the State and Orange in order to assert the legitimate rights of Scopelec and to preserve as many jobs as possible, following the sudden loss of these contracts”, underlines the group.
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A monumental loss of contract for Scopelec
Scopelec ensured for Orange the laying of the optical fiber and the maintenance of the copper network. This contract, which expired at the end of March, represented 40% of its turnover, estimated at 475 million euros in 2021. Informed in mid-November of the loss of the contract, the company considers that it had no sign forerunner from Orange as to this shortfall, and not having had time to prepare for it.
On June 30, Scopelec presented to the Lyon Commercial Court the main lines of its draft safeguard plan, which must be validated a priori in September. For its part, Orange must confirm its commitments to its subcontractor.
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