Telefonica has reduced its voluntary redundancy plan from 8,500 over five years to 6,500 over three years, following a government move to force the operator to pay the state's part of the unemployment compensation, Cinco Dias reports, citing people familiar with the union talks. Spanish employment minister Valeriano Gomez confirmed that the company had agreed to pay all of the costs associated with the layoffs. By returning to its original plan of cutting 6,500 jobs, Telefonica will be reducing its workforce in Spain by 20 percent. Reuters previously reported that Telefonica had raised its target number to 8,500 employees, or 25 percent of its Spanish workforce, which would have cost an estimated EUR 270 million to EUR 440 million, depending on years in service. According to Cinco Dias, the company is offering to pay employees aged 53 or more who take its offer 66 percent of their gross salary until they are 61 years old and 34 percent between 61 and retirement age. The UGT union said it wanted the same terms as previous redundancy plans, 70 percent and 34 percent. The two parties are due to return to the negotiating table on 7 June.
