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.
Software and hardware manufacturing company Olivetti has announced 332 redundancies at the Ivrea site, near Turin.
Long-time leader in the international market for typewriters and computers, Olivetti has become part of the Telecom Italia group since 2003. According to the new 2015-2017 industrial plan, the company will merge with the Telecom Italia subsidiary company Digital Solutions which currently employs about 200 workers. Its activities will focus mainly on IT services for small and medium enterprises.
The merger will result in a headcount reduction to be achieved mainly by way of relocation to other companies controlled by Telecom, incentivised early retirement or outplacement. Trade unions have opposed the decision and organised a strike. According to unions, the new plan lacks a commitment to invest in Olivetti activities and demonstrates the inability of Telecom Italia to develop its activities, entailing the risk of transforming Olivetti into an empty brand.
Other restructurings announced by Olivetti have been reported previously on the ERM. In 2005, the company offshored some production activities from the site in Agliè (Turin) to other countries with the loss of 200 jobs. In 2008, the same site was finally closed (260 job losses) and production was relocated to Arnad (Aosta).
Update 21/12/2015: Negotiations were finalised after the signature of agreements in September 2015 and December 2015.
The parties agreed about 75 job cuts, to be achieved through incentivised voluntary dismissals, and early retirements. In addition, the agreements provide for 230 relocations within Telecom Italia, whilst a further 230 employees will be passed on to the new company resulting from the merger of Olivetti with Digital Solution.
The Federation of White and Blue-Collar Metalworkers (FIOM) refused to sign the agreements,indicating that the company has been demoting and relocating workers in Telecom Italia, though negotiations were still ongoing. They also complained regarding the lack of a clear industrial plan.
Eurofound (2015), Olivetti, Merger/Acquisition in Italy, factsheet number 83595, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/restructuring-events/detail/83595.
Eurofound’s ERM restructuring legislation database offers an overview of key restructuring-related regulations in the EU Member States and Norway. Its content is continuously updated to reflect any changes made by national legislators in response to, for instance, policy shifts, legal...
Can Europe still achieve its ambitions for battery manufacturing? To answer this, the article looks at data from Eurofound’s European Restructuring Monitor and explores what recent large-scale restructuring events reveal about the state of play in the EU battery sector.
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...
