Telefónica's ERE will affect more than 5,100 employees in its three main subsidiaries in Spain until 2026

Telefónica's Employment Regulation File (ERE) will affect some 5,100 jobs in the company's three companies in Spain, as reported this Monday by union sources after the first meeting to establish negotiating tables.

This Monday the constitution of the negotiation tables of the three legal entities of Telefónica in Spain – Telefónica Móviles, Telefónica Soluciones and Telefónica España – was completed, where some 16,000 people work.

After the formation of the tables, the unions point out that the company has proposed a total of 5,124 dismissals until 2026, and that the measure is planned for people born in 1968 and previous years, with a minimum seniority of 15 years.

Specifically, the initial proposal that the company has conveyed to the unions is 81 layoffs in Telefónica Soluciones, 958 in Telefónica Móviles and 4,085 in Telefónica de España.

In this context, Telefónica has linked the voluntary nature of the collective dismissal to reaching the figures desired by the company, although these may vary throughout the negotiation process.. “The company indicates that if voluntariness does not achieve the output figures they want, well…. which we will see,” a Sumados-Fetico spokesperson told Europa Press, who also explained that Telefónica has justified the need for this collective dismissal for “organizational reasons.”

In this sense, CC OO has indicated in a statement that within the framework of the ERE conversations, other issues such as its universality will also be addressed, in addition to economic and social conditions and that it is linked to retirement.. “The company proposes a 'functional surplus' caused by technological changes, market needs and other causes that are included in the mandatory report that will justify its decision and that we will analyze in detail,” added CC OO.

Despite this context, the union has stated that “it is time to value the staff” of Telefónica, given that they are in a “constant state of adaptation” due to “commitment, responsibility and professionalism.”

“Today, negotiation tables have been formally established in Telefónica de España, Telefónica Móviles España and Telefónica Soluciones. Within this framework, the company has communicated to the different worker representatives the adjustment corresponding to each of these companies to adapt them to the demanding process of transformation and adaptation required by the new digital era,” Telefónica indicated for its part.

Staff in Galicia

In Galicia, the workforce is made up of about 600 people and last week they were “expectant” after the company announced its intention to apply this ERE.

According to the numbers of the head of Communications at FESMC UGT Galicia, José Ramón Vizcaíno, a Telefónica worker, the company's employees in the Galician community are currently 573: in Lugo 44 and also 44 in Ourense, 321 in A Coruña and 164 in Pontevedra.

For his part, fellow worker and CIG representative Henrique Vieitez manages similar staff numbers: 41 in Lugo, 44 in Ourense, 318 in A Coruña and 197 in Pontevedra, which puts the total at 600.

The province of Pontevedra, which once had more than a thousand employees, has stood out – at the state level – for small percentages of acceptance of regulation files or individual suspension plans.

The last ERE that Telefónica raised occurred in 2011, when it laid off more than 6,000 employees, a measure that caused a change in legislation.