“A hidden collective dismissal”: Dell Technologies cuts around a hundred positions on its Montpellier site

Dell est installée à Montpellier depuis 1992 et employait jusqu'à décembre environ 900 salariés.. Midi Libre – JEAN MICHEL MART

The first departures of employees were recorded as part of a collective contractual termination implemented since December. A total of 270 people must leave the group in Montpellier and Bezons. The Force Ouvrière union expresses its concerns for those who remain.

"Every day we receive an email from someone saying goodbye." It’s time for large numbers of departures within the Montpellier establishment of Dell Technologies. At the end of last year, a collective contractual termination was implemented at the two French locations of the multinational, Montpellier and Bezons in the Val d’Oise.

Of the 323 departures initially planned by management, around 270 were recorded, including around a hundred on the Millénaire site which until then had 900 employees (800 in the Paris region). The outages must last until the end of April. 

"A collective dismissal " 

Dell Technologies specifies that the procedure implemented avoids any forced departure but for the Force Ouvrière union, the first union organization in Montpellier but not in the majority, it is a "concealed collective dismissal" which primarily targets executives and supervisors.

Recourse to a collective conventional termination procedure exempts the company from all economic explanations, unlike an employment protection plan (PSE). "These are decisions that come from the United States. In the American press, it is clearly stated that Dell wants to continue to reduce its workforce in order to have more figures. The group's action has never been so high" observes Aurélie Tavernier, the FO union representative. A year ago, the computer manufacturer announced its intention to cut 6,600 jobs worldwide.

"What was explained to the employees is that we are in an unfavorable economic situation, in decline but they have no economic reason"&amp ;nbsp;she continues.

Management: “there is no forced departure”

When asked, Dell's Montpellier management had an external communications company respond. A very brief message in which the group confirms the signing of a collective contractual termination agreement. "It concerns the two sites of Montpellier and Bezons and only envisages voluntary departures. There is no forced departure in this framework". The company does not specify the number of departures recorded. On the grounds, she answers, "Furthermore, Dell Technologies continually evaluates its activities to remain competitive and ensure that it is able to offer innovations, added value and optimal services to its customers and its partners". Dell finally specifies that it "does not wish to communicate further information on this subject".

The world-leading computer manufacturer and seller has been based in Montpellier for a little over thirty years. The site houses the France and Southern Europe department and today has around 900 people of around thirty different nationalities, making it the largest private employer in the metropolis.

In February 2023, the firm announced a vast plan to reduce its workforce (133,000 people). An announcement which came after a record year 2021 with a turnover of 100 billion dollars.

"We feel the discomfort"

The staff representative, however, is critical of the voluntary nature of certain departures. "The employees who would have liked to benefit from it were retained. And some who wanted to keep their jobs were shown the exit door. Some resist but no longer have any prospects for the future. We find ourselves in certain teams with 30% fewer employees, so the workload increases" she deplores. 

In certain departments, such as sales, the number of initial candidates was much higher than that initially prescribed. "And there were misses, services were forgotten. But if these services no longer have work, it will be necessary to reclassify the employees" explains Aurélie Tavernier who evokes a degraded working atmosphere. 

"We're in the crack. We feel the discomfort. It's good to try to start again with something dynamic, positive, but everyone is wondering what will happen during the next semester, even the managers are worried, they can no longer arrive to dimension future prospects". Basically, the union deplores that no accompanying measure integrates this initial plan.

"These measures should have been negotiated in parallel. We did not want to put in place an agreement that would make it possible to support these changes, the reorganization of work. Which gives today a very complicated situation with teams whose balance has been upset" notes Charles Saliès, his lawyer. "We defend employment, employment. And we have to worry about those who are left. But there were no concrete responses" add Charles Saliès and Franck Mary-Montlaur, the secretary of the departmental union keen to reopen discussions.

With Force Ouvrière, tense relations

Relations between the management of Dell Technologies and representatives of Force Ouvrière remain tense. "We are trying to create problems for our union and our members. There are maneuvers that are done every day. Members and putative candidates for elections are discouraged. We will be vigilant" assures departmental secretary Franck Mary-Montlaur.

He assures that pressure was also put on several staff representatives to leave the company as part of the collective contractual termination. "Dell is a great company with substantial resources. There are leaders who want improvements. The goal is that it benefits everyone" insists Aurélie Tavernier.

"We want to be heard and get back around the table for the employees who remain on the job" resumes Aurélie Tavernier. "The objective is not to tarnish Dell’s image but for real, sincere negotiations to be initiated"< /em>.