ROME (Reuters) – STMicroelectronics on Monday reassured Rome’s government it would not slash jobs in Italy, people with knowledge of the matter said, as the chipmaker moved to defuse a row that had included strong Italian criticism of its CEO.
The group, in which the Italian and French governments own a combined 27.5% share through a holding company, told Italian officials and trade unions at a meeting in Rome it was not planning mass redundancies at its Agrate plant in northern Italy, people present said.
In the same meeting, Industry Minister Adolfo Urso warned that mass layoffs at the factory would be “unacceptable”, according to comments released by his office.
STMicroelectronics was not available for comment.
In April, STMicroelectronics said voluntary departures would cut 1,000 jobs in France out of 2,800 planned outside of attrition, while talks with Italy were ongoing.
Two month later, Italian unions said the company was planning 1,200 redundancies in Agrate, asking for an urgent meeting with the Italian government to discuss the situation.
Also in April, Italian Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said its attitude towards CEO Jean-Marc Chery would be of “criticism and opposition.”
Rome has tried to persuade Paris to back its plan to replace Chery, separate sources have previously said. However, in recent weeks the parties have sought to settle their differences, one Italian source said on Monday.
(Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte, editing by Alvise Armellini and Jan Harvey)
