The operators presented the proposals to their works councils for approval. A social plan will offer affected employees assistance in finding new work, both internally and externally. The job cuts will affect areas such as product development, innovation and infrastructure as well as several layers of management. Ziggo said the aim is to work better and more efficiently under the new structure, with a strong focus on customer service.
The CNV union said it was shocked by the scale of the job cuts, which are equal to more than 10 percent of the workforce. According to the social plan agreed in 2014, redundant staff should receive 15 months paid leave and three months unpaid leave to find a new job. They also receive assistance from an internal placement team.
The job cuts are still less than some estimates last year, when as many as 900 jobs were thought to be lost from the merger of the country's two largest cable operators. Unions estimated a maximum 500-600 jobs lost.Ziggo and UPC started the merger process in January and recently completed the integration and harmonisation of their networks. They also plan to integrate their Wi-Fi networks and in April will align their channel line-ups. The UPC brand name should be replaced by Ziggo starting in April. In March, the operators announced changes to their pricing and products in order to introduce a single offering. Customers will see an increase in prices as a result, while also receiving more TV channels and faster internet.
The merged operator will cover around 90 percent of the Netherlands, serving 4.3 million TV customers, 3.1 million internet subscribers and 2.6 million fixed lines. It also has around 130,000 mobile customers and a network of more than 2 million Wi-Fi hotspots. Figures from Telecompaper show Ziggo-UPC is the largest provider on the broadband market with a 44 percent share of customers and leads the TV market with 54 percent of customers.
