The pay TV group, Canal + wants to cut 18% of its workforce in France, which currently stands at 2600 people.
Canal + pay TV group announced Tuesday 9th July 2019, a “transformation project of its French activities” which will go through a voluntary redundancies plan “of up to 492 people, ” according to a statement.
This represents a little over 18% of the workforce in France, which currently amounts to 2,600 people.
A source familiar with the matter had told AFP last week that a “massive” departure plan was to be presented to the staff representatives at a meeting of the Social and Economic Committee (SSC) on Tuesday.
The group is committed “in the redefinition of its growth model”
“To respond to the upheavals of the audiovisual sector and the transformation of its businesses, the group has been committed, for several years in the redefinition of its growth model,” said Canal in a statement, citing the acceleration of its international development and its “digital flip-flop”.
In France, Canal lists the initiatives taken since 2015:
- redesign of offers,
- development of new partnerships with telecom operators,
- massive investment in programs (more than 3 billion euros annually)
- and technology and a savings plan initiated more than three years ago.
Unfortunately, these achievements are still insufficient as the transformation of our sector is like a revolution with global, natively digital and international platforms, which have a considerable financial strength and escape the tax and regulatory constraints on Canal + .
Negotiations will open on July 15th and 16th
The Vivendi group’s subsidiary has been facing a tough backdrop in France for several years, particularly with BeIN Sports sports competition. , SFR (Altice) and soon that of Mediapro, and, in series and films, booming accelerated subscription video platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime.
Negotiations on the voluntary redundancies plan will open on July 15th and 16th, 2019 for the desired conclusion at the end of the year.
