Unions at French retail giant Carrefour have said they still fear job cuts despite meeting with the retailer’s incoming CEO Georges Plassat last week.
Force Ouvriere, the main union at Carrefour, met with Plassat on Thursday (10 May), over concerns the retailer may cut up to 5,000 jobs in its home market where it has been underperforming.
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Plassat was named as the replacement for Lars Olofsson in January. He joined Carrefour as its COO last month and is set to become CEO in five weeks, is expected to outline strategic changes when the world’s second-largest retailer reports its first-half results in August. The company has been battling weakness in its French hypermarkets and a “difficult” trading environment in Europe, booking a drop in first-quarter group sales last month.
During the meeting, the union asked Plassat for answers on his employment strategy and the future for Carrefour’s hypermarkets for which a revamp is “overdue”, it said. The union also questioned Plassat on the future of Carrefour’s logistics operations and its franchise strategy for each banner.
However, the union said its concerns have been left unanswered.
“He has noted our concerns about jobs, and is conscious of not having provided answers to our questions,” a spokesperson for the union said. “The secretary of the group has invited Mr Plassat attend our next meeting in July, hoping that by then, it has a deeper insight into things, and more concrete answers to give us.”
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By GlobalDataCarrefour declined to comment on the talks.
