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.
Transportation / Storage Land, Water And Air Transportation Water Transport 50 - Water transport
650 jobs Number of planned job losses
Announcement Date
17 February 2009
Employment effect (start)
Foreseen end date
Description
Seafrance, a cross channel ferry operator, has announced 650 job losses as part of a restructuring plan to cope with the economic downturn. All of the job losses will be in France. The job cuts are a result of a 23% drop in freight crossings in January 2009 compared to the same month one year earlier. The company lost 20 million euro in 2008, losing 3 million per month since October 2008. The job cuts will affect both sea-going and shore based staff, and make up 40% of the total workforce of 1580.
While operating from Calais to Dover, the firm is headquartered in Paris, and is a subsidiary of SNCF, the French train company. The job cuts affect staff at Calais, where SeaFrance is the largest employer. The company will continue using only 3 of its 6 ferries. 2 ferries are currently for sale.
The trade union 'CGT-Officiers' have not accepted the plan and negotiations are anticipated. A Works Council has been scheduled for the end of the month. In October 2008 a less dramatic plan envisaging the loss of 300 jobs and ceasing the operation of two ships, was put forward, but was rejected by the board, who felt it did not effectively address the decline in demand.
Sources
19 February 2009: Le Monde
18 February 2009: Les Echos
17 February 2009: La Tribune
Citation
Eurofound (2009), SeaFrance, Internal restructuring in France, factsheet number 68561, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/68561.
Digitisation and automation technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), can affect working conditions in a variety of ways and their use in the workplace raises a host of new ethical concerns.
The retail banking sector is fertile ground for studying the impacts of digitalisation on work and employment. Financial services are increasingly provided online, without the intermediary of customer-facing institutions.
European labour markets have recovered strongly from COVID-19. By the end of 2021, little more than 18 months after the start of the pandemic, employment rates in the EU were almost at pre-crisis levels.
