Restructuring events
European Restructuring Monitor (ERM)
The restructuring events database contains factsheets with data on large-scale restructuring events reported in the principal national media and company websites in each EU Member State. This database was created in 2002.
IBM Italia, the Italian subsidiary of US-based multinational technology and consulting corporation IBM, announced 290 layoffs as part of a corporate restructuring plan, mainly in Segrate (Milan) and Rome.
Dismissals will affect managers (100 in Segrate, 62 in Rome, 12 in Turin and 16 in other Italian sites) and white-collar workers across various units in Italy. Over the next days, there will be meetings to discuss the details of the restructuring plan, taking into consideration that about 60 managers may be eligible for early retirements.
Unions claim that there had been many reorganisations in recent years (see IBMIT-2014) and called on the government to start the negotiations with the company with a view to achieving a shared solution. The main Italian federation of managers Federmanager has criticised the recent business strategies claiming that they tend to result mainly in job cuts.
Update, 31/03/2016: An agreement was reached about 190 managerial positions. In details, 90 dismissals will be managed through early retirements and incentivised exits. The other initially announced redundancies will be avoided and alternative solutions are envisaged, including wage cuts, demotions, and adoption of part-time work for older workers. Negotiations are still ongoing about the further 100 white-collar workers at risk of losing their job.
Update, 19/05/2016: The management proposed a plan of incentives for voluntary departures. Subsequently, an agreement was signed with unions confirming 100 workers would leave the company as part of this plan.
Eurofound (2016), IBM Italia, Internal restructuring in Italy, factsheet number 86808, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://dev.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/86808.
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