Total SE is discussing a plan for 500 voluntary job cuts in France, where the oil company has 35,000 employees, Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pouyanne said in an interview with France Inter radio.
Pouyanne said talks are ongoing. “We’ll see, there’s a negotiation. It could be 300, it could be 700,” he said Saturday.
He denied that Total has decided on reducing 700 positions, a number given by the CGT labor union. The plan is part of a project to reorganize research and development, and hire younger workers with necessary skills, Les Echos reported last month, citing the union.
“We’re simply talking about a plan for voluntary departures,” Pouyanne said. “The employees are not at all the adjustment variable at Total.”
