Telecom Italia has informed trade unions that it plans to lay off 1,700 workers. The announcement followed a meeting with the ministry of economic development on the operator's employment policy. The job cuts will affect customer services, directory assistance and business support, and to a lesser extent the Open Access and IT departments, the company said. It also announced the withdrawal of an earlier proposal to hire 4,000 young people over the next four years. The company had hoped to benefit from a state reform that allowed the gradual replacement of older workers with young employees, but the so-called "expansive solidarity" legislation has not yet taken effect. Under such legislation, the state pays incentives to companies that reduce working hours to create new jobs and supports early retirement. As a result, the company said it is not able to maintain current employment levels and must reduce labour costs.
Part of the workforce reduction will involve spinning off its regional call centres as part of a restructure of the Caring Services division, which handles customer care activities. Earlier this year Telecom Italia announced that it would be pressing ahead with its 2015-18 business plan after workers rejected the spin off project. Unions expressed concern that the spin off would shift 350 call centres towards Open Access, while other centres were slated for closure. Telecom Italia currently has around 66,000 employees, some 53,000 of them in Italy. The company said talks would continue in the coming days with unions and the ministry of economic development on the plans.
