24 suicides in 18 months at France Télécom

[Syt]

AFP: France Telecom boss under fire over staff suicides

PARIS — France Telecom's chief executive faced calls to stand down Tuesday as a 24th suicide at the firm sparked demands for an inquiry into working conditions blamed for pushing staff over the edge.

A France Telecom worker jumped to his death from a highway overpass on Monday leaving a note blaming pressures at work. The 51-year-old father of two had recently been posted to a call centre in Annecy in the Alps.

Workers for the formerly state-owned telecoms giant staged wildcat strikes Tuesday in Annecy, nearby Grenoble and Lyon and in Bordeaux to demand action over a wave of 24 suicides in the past 18 months.

Chief executive Didier Lombard responded by announcing a freeze on a policy dubbed "Time to Move" that sees managers change posts every three years, on top of a promise last month to review personnel policies.

But opposition lawmakers and unions said he had not gone far enough.

"Rather than stepping up his PR efforts, we believe a responsible business leader should resign. That is the only possible outcome to this case right now," said Benoit Hamon, spokesman for the Socialist Party.

"We need a strong symbolic gesture within the company to get labour relations back on the rails," said Bruno Le Roux, head of the Socialist group in the National Assembly.

Both Socialist and Communist lawmakers called for an urgent parliamentary inquiry into the suicides.

A former state monopoly now competing as a private firm in a deregulated market, France Telecom has undergone several major reorganisations in recent years, leading to widespread complaints of stress.

It has 100,000 employees and the suicide rate among its staff is not much higher than in the general population, but several of the victims killed themselves at work or after blaming the firm for their despair.

For the head of President Nicolas Sarkozy's ruling right-wing party, Xavier Bertrand, Lombard's resignation "is not the issue."

"All managers have to be trained to deal with suffering in the workplace, and to take account of suicide risks," he said.

But Sebastien Crozier, whose CFE-CGC union represents executive-level staff, warned that: "The company's image has been damaged. Internally, workers are saying 'Management, Time to Move'."

"They are no longer credible," agreed Patrick Ackermann of the Sud-PTT union.

According to a local trade unionist, the latest suicide, identified only as Jean-Paul, was singled out as emotionally fragile before being posted to the Annecy call centre where work conditions were described as "unbearable."

The victim's wife told RTL radio "he spoke about the restructuring all the time" in the run-up to his death.

[DGuller]

It has 100,000 employees and the suicide rate among its staff is not much higher than in the general population, but several of the victims killed themselves at work or after blaming the firm for their despair.

So general population never has suicides triggered by work-related stress?

[MadImmortalMan]

Chief executive Didier Lombard responded by announcing a freeze on a policy dubbed "Time to Move" that sees managers change posts every three years, on top of a promise last month to review personnel policies.

[/quote]


Those kind of policies are teh suck.

[Berkut]

I wonder what makes the work conditions "intolerable" in France.

37 hours/week?

[MadImmortalMan]

I wonder what makes the work conditions "intolerable" in France.

37 hours/week?

From the quote, I'd say forcing employees to move at least every three years.

[DGuller]

I can see how protected employment can be a bad thing.  In US, if you hate your job, you can usually find another one.  In France, it would probably be harder, since all the labor protections make the labor market more rigid.  There, if you're stuck in a bad job, you have to tolerate it 35 hours a week for a long time. 

You may also not be wanted on the job, which means you have to meticulously avoid all the bullshit that could become a legal cause for firing.  With at-will employment, you at least have some leeway, because if you're not wanted, you're not employed, and if you're wanted, your employer wouldn't can you for something that doesn't affect your performance a lot.

[Monoriu]

Chief executive Didier Lombard responded by announcing a freeze on a policy dubbed "Time to Move" that sees managers change posts every three years, on top of a promise last month to review personnel policies.

We have the same policy in the HK government.  Almost everybody (not just managers) is moved every 2-4 years.  I must say I like it.  Stuck with a bad boss?  Either you'll move soon, or he will.  Being able to leave all the baggage behind every few years is a real blessing.  The policy also opens up a lot more HR options.  If a boss and the underling has bad chemistry they can easily arrange a transfer.  It can even be disguised as a normal thing.

[Eddie Teach]

Big difference between changing jobs in Hong Kong and changing jobs in France.

[alfred russel]

Chief executive Didier Lombard responded by announcing a freeze on a policy dubbed "Time to Move" that sees managers change posts every three years, on top of a promise last month to review personnel policies.

Those kind of policies are teh suck.
[/quote]

I was at a place that for professionals had a mandatory roll out of your position after 3 years, at which time you had to interview for a new one. You got promotions by interviewing at higher levels. I thought it was a good system--it kept you from stagnating, kept things from going to a de facto seniority system, and ended up with a cross trained workforce with a global view of the business.

[alfred russel]

Chief executive Didier Lombard responded by announcing a freeze on a policy dubbed "Time to Move" that sees managers change posts every three years, on top of a promise last month to review personnel policies.

We have the same policy in the HK government.  Almost everybody (not just managers) is moved every 2-4 years.  I must say I like it.  Stuck with a bad boss?  Either you'll move soon, or he will.  Being able to leave all the baggage behind every few years is a real blessing.  The policy also opens up a lot more HR options.  If a boss and the underling has bad chemistry they can easily arrange a transfer.  It can even be disguised as a normal thing.

First time ever that I've seen sense in the policies Mono posts here.