Sunrise is being restructured: up to 450 seats are at risk (cross-border guide)

Context

In brief

• Sunrise announces up to 450 job cuts
• The consultation procedure begins in October
• Stores and customer service will be spared

Key facts

What: Job cuts and business repositioning Who: Sunrise How many jobs: Up to 450 out of 2,900 Previous period: 147 layoffs in February Consultation start: October

A new wave of staff cuts is looming for Sunrise. On Monday, the operator announced a repositioning of its activities and the goal of substantial medium-term savings, with the prospect of eliminating up to 450 full-time jobs out of its current workforce of 2,900. According to a press release, the company plans a deep reorientation in order to anticipate emerging market and technological trends, and to permanently strengthen its execution capacity in operational activities as well as its market position. The savings in question have not been quantified for now. Regarding employment, a consultation procedure with union representatives will be launched in October. Employees working in retail stores and customer service should largely be spared from the cuts. Last February, Sunrise had already announced the dismissal of 147 people.

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Operational details

The position of the Syndicom trade union

The Syndicom trade union expressed a very critical stance regarding the corporate decision communicated by Sunrise. In statements released on Monday afternoon, the union organization emphasized how employees have demonstrated great energy in recent years and have actively contributed to the company's success, facing and supporting numerous structural changes. Faced with the prospect of eliminating up to 450 full-time jobs, the union demands that the consultation procedure be initiated quickly, so that the staff has sufficient time to present concrete alternative proposals. Syndicom also expects Sunrise to exploit all possibilities to preserve jobs and assume its social responsibilities, rather than unilaterally placing cost and performance objectives before the interests of the staff.

Details on the scope of the restructuring

The new wave of cuts announced by Sunrise follows a previous intervention last February, when the operator had already announced the dismissal of 147 people. The current plan involves a deep reorientation aimed at anticipating market and technological developments and strengthening execution capacity in operational activities and market position. However, the expected savings have not been quantified at this stage. A relevant element concerns the safeguarding of specific categories of workers: employees operating in shops and customer service should in fact be largely spared from the announced cuts, thereby limiting the impact of the measure to other sectors of the corporate organization whose specificities will be the subject of the union consultation in October.

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Key points

Procedures and timing of the consultation

The consultation procedure with union representatives represents the next formal step and will begin in October. This phase will allow for a dialogue between top management and the social partners regarding the repositioning plan and the projected cuts of up to 450 full-time jobs out of the current 2,900. The Syndicom union has requested that this procedure be initiated quickly to guarantee staff the necessary time to present alternative proposals. The stated objective of the workers' organizations is to push the company to exploit every possible margin to preserve jobs and take on its social responsibilities. The discussion will therefore focus on finding solutions that avoid the unilateral prioritization of cost and performance objectives over the interests of the staff, also taking into account the previous dismissal of 147 people announced in February.

Prospects for operational activities

The repositioning of activities announced by Sunrise aims to strengthen execution capacity in operational activities and market position in view of technological developments. Employees active in retail stores and customer service, as specified by the company, should be largely spared from the cuts, thus focusing the restructuring on other areas of the organization. The exact quantification of the savings has not yet been disclosed, but developments will depend on the outcome of the union discussions scheduled for October and the evaluations that will emerge during the official consultation procedure with staff representatives.

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Source: rsi.ch