Michelin targets voluntary workforce reductions in France

Clermont-Ferrand, France – Michelin Group is considering a voluntary 'workforce adaptation' project in France that could affect up to 1,500 positions.

The proposed three-year programme is part of group efforts to reduce costs, simplify operations and support changing job requirements.

Michelin informed employee representatives and trade unions of the proposal on 28 May, describing the move as necessary in “a highly unstable economic environment.”

“In a global environment marked by [intense] international competition and heightened macroeconomic and geopolitical tensions, the Michelin Group is pursuing efforts to sustainably improve its performance,” it said.

Furthermore, Michelin noted domestic "economic and regulatory constraints,” including: high labour and energy costs, as well as taxation levels among the highest in industrialised countries.

The French group went on to emphasise that its workforce-reduction programme would be carried out “solely on a voluntary approach” and involve no compulsary job losses.

The project, it added, is intended to “optimise a cost structure that is too high today, support [skillls] changes in the workplace and simplify the company’s functioning modes.”

Of the approximate 1,500 positions impacted over the three-year period, around two-thirds would be linked to “tertiary functions” and the other third to industrial activities.

A support programme would be put in place to provide “personalised paths for internal or external mobility, reskilling and training toward jobs of the future.”

Michelin stressed that the initiative “has nothing to do with the teams’ engagement” and “does not call into question France’s strategic role within the group.”

The group currently employs nearly 17,000 people in France across its R&D centre and 13 industrial sites, and said it “plans to continue to hire there.”