The SNCF has programmed 1.870 job cuts in its budget for 2011, which will be presented next Wednesday to the board of directors of the public institution, it was learnt Friday from union sources.
Some 6.350 departures are planned, to approximately 4,500 hires in the mother house. In “effective means available”, that is to say, on average over the year, the number of removals amounted to about 1,400.
These figures are within the range announced early in December by the president of the SNCF, Guillaume Pépy. He had mentioned that at the level of the SNCF group, between 7.700 and 8,000 people in total could be hired.
The mother house (public establishment with industrial and commercial character) account and 155,000 employees, the group (with subsidiaries Geodis, Keolis…) some 235.000, a figure that could increase to more than 240,000 in 2011.
In relation to the house-mother, Sud-Rail said in a press release that “the financial logic in the short-term prevails, with the announcement of a new sharp decline of the employment”. According to various sources, unions, freight (transport of goods) is paying a heavy price, even that the branch infrastructure and SNCF Voyages (long lines).
“The budget is a little not on the headcount reductions, which were around 3 to 4,000 in recent years”, has, however, pointed out another delegate.
Several unions surveyed by AFP say they are, however, dubious compared to the forecast on employment, given that there is often a gap between the budget and realization. In addition, they do not have the final figures for the single year 2010.
At the beginning of October, the SNCF said it would eventually employ about 3,200 people in 2010, following a number of departures higher than expected, more than 6,000 agents who left the company, mainly due to retirement.
