Between 1,293 and 3,267 positions could be eliminated within the Casino group, depending on the number of large format stores and logistics warehouses not yet sold which will find takers by September, the distributor announced on Wednesday, specifying that a A thousand jobs will be preserved at the Saint-Etienne headquarters.
The “reorganization project”, presented on Wednesday to staff representatives, “provides for 1,293 net job cuts within the group’s head office functions, including 554 in Saint-Etienne”, indicates Casino in a press release.
The group’s historic headquarters would retain “1,010 positions out of 1,564 current ones” in Saint-Etienne, specifies Casino, which also has headquarters in Vitry-sur-Seine (Franprix brand), Clichy (Monoprix) and Bordeaux (CDiscount).
Looking for buyers
In addition to the 1,293 net reductions within the group’s head office functions, “failing to find buyers”, up to 1,974 positions could be eliminated if the hypermarkets and supermarkets which have not been sold to Intermarché, Auchan, Carrefour, as well as certain logistics platforms, cannot find buyers by the end of September.
Casino, which still employed 200,000 people worldwide and 50,000 in France at the end of 2022, saw its workforce shrink over the course of the sales in recent months, to 28,212 pre-PSE and after the sale of almost all large format stores to competition.
The distributor who fell into the hands of Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky and his allies, billionaire Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière and the Attestor fund, at the end of March, also has almost no international presence.
The social and economic committees of companies affected by employment protection plans (PSE) have been summoned to a meeting scheduled for May 6 where “an information-consultation procedure prior to the implementation of a draft job protection plan”, details the distributor. At the same time, negotiations “on the content of the job protection plan will be initiated with the trade union organizations representing the said companies”.
A phase of voluntary departures
Casino “will propose a phase of voluntary departures for employees concerned” by a PSE “presenting a professional project, in order to limit as much as possible the number of forced departures”.
Quoted in this press release, the new general director Philippe Palazzi believes that “this transformation project would constitute a key step”, which “would allow Casino to embark on a new development trajectory”. He plans to “reinvest in points of sale and rehumanize them”.