French mobile and broadband operator SFR has announced a voluntary redundancy plan affecting 856 staff, or 8.5 percent of its workforce of around 10,000 people. The company said that the move was necessary to ensure its competitiveness and investment in very high speed infrastructure. A meeting will be held on 3 December with unions to negotiate redundancy terms. Le Monde reports that the layoffs will affect all divisions, except customer services. A source close to management told the newspaper that financial conditions will be at least as favourable as those of SFR's previous layoff plan, around two and a half years of salary for workers who have been with the group for 10 years. CFDT union representative Olivier Lelong said the job cuts were useless and would disorganize the group whose problems will not be solved by the cost savings.
