Telecom Italia to Lay Off up to 1,200 Employees

Telecom Italia might lay off more than a thousand employees. The company plans to do it through a voluntary early retirement scheme. The move is said to be a part of efforts to reduce costs by about €1 billion.

According to a statement on the website of the FISTel-CISL union, the maximum number of posts to be eliminated between September and 30 November is set at 1,200. The agreement was signed by TIM as well as unions SLC-CGIL, FISTel-CISL, UILCom-UIL, and UGL Telecomunicazioni.

The union talks began last month, with an emphasis placed on efforts to reskill the workforce over the coming two years to meet the changing needs of the operator. The scheme reportedly forms only the first round of job reduction plans. Reuters wrote in an article that TIM's CEO Pietro Labriola is seeking about €1 billion in savings between now and 2024. It cited a recent report from Moody’s that calculated staff costs at the operator accounted for around 27% of total 2021 operating spending or 19% of revenue.

Labriola is currently in the process of implementing a plan to separate the Italian operator into two units, with more to be revealed at its capital market day on 7 July. According to reports, the CEO recently indicated that the purpose of the plan to split the operator’s fixed network infrastructure from its service operations is to reduce debt and maximize the value of all assets in the interest of all shareholders.