MADRID (Reuters) -Spanish telecoms group Telefonica plans to lay off at least 6,000 employees across several units before the end of the year, newspaper Expansion reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the plans.
The total number of workers initially affected by the redundancy plan could rise to 7,000 out of a global workforce of around 100,000, the report added, although negotiations with unions tend to reduce such targets.
A spokesperson for Telefonica told Reuters that “multiple analyses are being carried out in all areas of the company, but there are no plans for a redundancy programme at this time”.
The company is set to present its new strategic plan spearheaded by recently-appointed Executive Chair Marc Murtra on November 4.
According to the Expansion report, Telefonica seeks to officially inform unions of the potential layoffs shortly after the strategic plan’s presentation, which could allow the company to reach a deal before December 31 and thus allocate the resulting provisions to the 2025 financial year.
The redundancy plan is expected to be similar to one implemented in 2024, which was “preferably voluntary” for employees aged 55 and over, Expansion added in its report.
According to the report, the bulk of affected employees – up to 5,000 – will likely belong to the Spanish business, as well as subsidiaries Telefonica Moviles – the company’s mobile and broadband unit in Spain – and Telefonica Soluciones, which offers outsourced IT services.
However, employees at the corporate centre – which until now had been spared from previous redundancy plans – may also be affected.
(Reporting by David Latona; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
