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.
Carrefour, a French multinational retailer, has announced the dismissal of 1233 of its Belgian employees. The operation is part of a larger operation by the company to cut back on costs which will involve investments in e-commerce. Approximately 180 jobs will be lost at the company headquarters, 2 hypermarkets will close and many will have their number of employees reduced. Trade unions are concerned and state that the operation is a "social bloodbath". Additionally they criticise the attitude of the company management as well as the amateurish way in which the news was announced. Employees in several stores started strikes after the news broke and trade unions indicate that others will follow. In 2010, 1700 employees were dismissed after 7 supermarkets and 9 hypermarkets were closed. In France several thousands of employees are facing dismissal as well.
Update, 13/4/18: In April came the news that approximately 191 jobs might be saved after negotiations between the company management and the unions. Stores in both Genk and Angleur will not be closed entirely but instead reduced in size. In a few other stores the amount of jobs at risk has been reduced. However in exchange the management want the unions to agree with its transformation plan before the summer (increasing flexibility or 'polyactivity' of employees and agreement to the implementation of new technologies in stores).
Eurofound (2018), Carrefour, Internal restructuring in Belgium, factsheet number 93124, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://dev.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/93124.
This working paper offers a comprehensive methodological overview of the European Restructuring Monitor (ERM) databases. Even though the methodology has not changed over time, new categories have been added, and the way it has been used by researchers and policymakers...
This Eurofound research paper explores key trends in restructuring in recent years, highlighting the companies that announced the largest job losses and job gains in the EU. It builds on an analysis of company announcements recorded in Eurofound’s European Restructuring...
In 2023, thousands of workers in big tech lost their jobs. Meta, Amazon, Google, Apple, Microsoft and Salesforce had been considered to offer good and secure jobs up to this point. Giants of the information and communication technology (ICT) sector,...
In 2024, the automotive sector in the EU came to the fore in public and policy discussions. The focus was on the slowdown in electric vehicle (EV) sales, rising global competition, belated investments in new technologies, and the potential closure...
The more employee monitoring resembles surveillance – with its systematic, continuous and detailed tracking of employees' activities, behaviours or communications – the greater the potential for infringement of both privacy and data protection rights. Although the EU General Data Protection...
Since 2013, Eurofound's ERM database on restructuring-related legislation has been documenting regulatory developments in the Member States of the European Union and Norway which are explicitly or implicitly linked to anticipating and managing change. The most recent update to the...
