There will also be an incentivized leave plan in the corporate area to which some 200 million euros will be allocated.

MADRID, 23 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Telefónica will propose to the unions "in the coming days" a plan for incentivized departures that will affect a maximum of 5,000 workers and that will be part of the 2023-2026 strategic plan that the company will present on November 8 within the framework of the 'Day of the Investor', as reported to Europa Press by sources familiar with the situation.

The 5,000 employees would be the maximum number of people affected by the incentivized departure plan, which would be distributed over the duration of the new strategic plan, although the calculations on the number of workers who would finally benefit from the plan are estimated to be between 2,500 and 3,000, a figure similar to that of 2021, the last time a measurement of this caliber was carried out.

Thus, the unions' estimates suggest that the workers who could join this plan will be those born in 1968 and 1967, although it is not ruled out that employees who met the criteria in the previous incentive exit plans promoted by the company could take advantage of them. now to the new one.

In fact, in the plan negotiated in 2021, Telefónica offered to pay up to 68% of the salary of affiliated workers up to the age of 65 and also paid the Social Security fee, health insurance and contribution to the company's pension plan. among other accessories.

This last plan was designed for a maximum of around 4,500 employees and finally around 3,000 workers took advantage of it, which resulted in a cost of around 1.4 billion euros.

Although the new incentivized exit plan has not yet been presented to the unions, which will be done before November 8, the measure will not appear as such on 'Investor Day', although it will be linked to the figures of cost adjustments to be presented.

In this sense, the sources consulted indicate that the operator will provide more than 1,000 million euros to accommodate this incentivized exit plan, a figure to which around 200 million euros would be added linked to a voluntary withdrawal plan for the area. corporate, that is, employees close to the team of the president of Telefónica, José María Álvarez-Pallete, and also managers of subsidiaries, among others.

The adjustment plan for the corporate area, which would include directors, managers and managers, is discretionary and could affect a minimum of 300 people, according to the same sources, and seeks to slim down an oversized management team.

In this context, the unions point out that the negotiations of the plan should take place calmly, given that the company, which will turn 100 years old next April, "is not interested in generating noise" within the framework of its centenary.

That is to say, the company does not want labor or union demands to cloud the celebration of its 100 years of history, which will take place on April 19, the same day that the operator will close its copper network.

In fact, some of the negotiations between the unions and the company that are currently on the table have to do with the closure of more than 100 "low occupancy" centers and also with the reorganization of its customer service. , whose centerpiece is telephone 1004.

Regarding this last issue, it has been proposed that the almost 300 employees linked to this department, framed in the B2C area (customer relations), will move to the B2B area, in charge of responding to requests from SMEs.

Another element that the unions point out in this context is the entry of the Saudi group STC into Telefónica with 9.9% of the company's share capital, an operation that was made public on September 5 and that to be completed it still has to receive the approval of the Government.

Although STC has not yet conveyed its intentions in the company to the Executive, the unions also do not know the plans of the Saudi group and how it may affect the social dialogue between the company and the representation of the workers, which is why they show some suspicion.

Telefónica's last incentivized exit plan was negotiated in 2021, but before that, two others took place in recent years, one in 2015 - which was executed in 2016 and 2017 - and another in 2019.

In 2016, around 6,300 workers left the company and the cost for the company was almost 3.7 billion euros, while in 2019, some 2,600 employees left the operator, for which Telefónica provided 1.7 billion euros. euros.