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.
Telefónica, a Spanish telecommunications company, has formally notified unions of its plan to cut 5,319 jobs across four of its main Spanish subsidiaries (namely, Telefónica España, Telefónica Móviles, Telefónica Soluciones, and Movistar+) through a series of Employment Redundancy Files (ERE). The proposed layoffs represent 36.8% of the 14,457 employees at these entities and mark one of the most extensive workforce reductions in the company’s history.
According to documents shared with representative unions, this will involve 3,649 employees at Telefónica España (or 41% of its workforce); 1,124 employees at Telefónica Móviles (31% of employees); 267 employees at Telefónica Soluciones (24% of employees); and 279 at Movistar+ (32% of its workforce).
The measure is justified by organisational, technical, and production reasons and primarily targets employees born in 1969, 1970, and 1971 (those reaching 57 years of age between 2026 and 2028). The company expects departures to begin in 2026. Telefónica employs roughly 25,000 workers in Spain, and additional layoffs are expected in other subsidiaries, including Telefónica SA (the corporate parent), Telefónica Global Solutions, and Telefónica Innovación Digital.
Negotiations are expected to last about a month, with a potential agreement by late December or early January 2026. UGT has demanded that all exits remain strictly voluntary and based on early retirement schemes, consistent with previous agreements. The company aims to book the financial impact of the ERE in the fourth quarter of 2025 to prevent it from affecting 2026’s accounts, which are already burdened by losses from divestments in Latin America. Unions warn that they will not endorse the new ERE unless it guarantees the voluntary nature of departures and improved employment conditions through the extension of the current collective agreement to 2030.
Telefonica experienced a previous internal restructuring experience in 2023, with 3,420 people being affected Telefonica España 2023-ES
Updated, 25 NOV 2025
Telefónica has expanded its restructuring plan to include a total of 6,088 job cuts across seven of its Spanish entities, including the group’s corporate parent company, Telefónica S.A., where 378 redundancies are proposed (about 33% of its 1,160 employees). This latest announcement concludes the establishment of all negotiation committees for the group’s ongoing Employment Redundancy File (ERE). Overall, seven EREs have been presented, representing 35% of Telefónica’s total Spanish workforce.
Eurofound (2025), Telefonica España, Internal restructuring in Spain, factsheet number 203734, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/203734.
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