The subcontractorOrange specializing in the deployment and maintenance of telecommunications networks, Scopelec has been in great difficulty since it lost its contract with the operator for the laying of optical fiber and the management of the copper network. To survive, the company announced on July 6, 2022, a backup plan providing for ” dismissal of several hundred of its employees “.
From the end of the contract between Orange and Scopelec to the launch of a backup plan
Already at the end of 2021, Scopelec saw nearly 1,000 employees leave the company voluntarily or to join other companies in the sector. These departures coincide with the start of the crisis for this group of approximately 3,600 employees. Orange’s subcontractor mentions this situation in its press release: ” After more than six months of fighting following the sudden loss of major contracts with its historical customer representing 40% of its turnover, Scopelec presented the main lines of its draft safeguard plan on June 30 at the Commercial Court. from Lyon “.
This contract with Orange was estimated at 475 million euros in 2021, a significant sum for the company. Informed in mid-November 2021 of the loss of this contract, Scopelec considers that it has had no explicit sign from Orange regarding this shortfall, which implies that the firm did not have time to prepare for it.
For its part, Orange defends itself by claiming that it had proposed transition measures. Scopelec considers that these proposals were insufficient. For Orange, the reduction in contracts with Scopelec is part of a “general context of declining activity” on the maintenance of the copper network and the installation of fiber, which he estimates at around 20% in the years to come. In effect, the copper network is destined to disappear in 2030 while the optical fiber should cover the entire territory by the end of the decade.
Several hundred layoffs expected in the coming weeks
Scopelec adds that in ” consequence of the loss of the Orange markets, the company will still have to lay off several hundred of its employees, and will seek to implement a social restructuring that best respects its societal commitments within the framework of the safeguard procedure. “.
In the coming years, the chairman of the board of directors of Scopelec, Thomas Foppaini, should leave his functions. Management has already taken steps to find a successor. According to a source familiar with the matter, if initially 800 layoffs were planned, the number would have been reduced to 550.
Note that Scopelec is one of the largest SCOP (cooperative and participatory society) in France, which means that the company is majority owned by its employees. The safeguard plan should be validated by the Commercial Court of Lyon during the month of September. Until then, Orange will have to confirm its commitments to its subcontractor.
