Sunrise UPC cuts 600 jobs after merger
The merger of Sunrise and UPC will result in significant job cuts. By the end of next year, a total of about 600 jobs will be eliminated, mainly through layoffs.
It was already clear in January that the merger of Sunrise and UPC would have consequences for employees. The job cuts announced at the time have now become more concrete: As part of the merger, a total of around 450 redundancies are expected, as the company and the Syndicom union announced on Monday. This corresponds to around 13.5 percent of the 3350 full-time positions.
There will reportedly be around 300 redundancies in the current year, with another 150 to follow next year. By the end of 2022, Sunrise UPC plans to cut an additional 150 jobs through fluctuations. In total, therefore, around 600 jobs will be lost as a result of the merger.
The employees affected, who will lose their jobs this year, will for the most part be informed by the end of May at the latest. The job cuts planned for 2022 will primarily affect the areas of finance, IT and technology, the statement continues.
Fewer jobs than expected
The reduction of 600 jobs is comparatively moderate. In January, the company said that "significantly less than 30 percent" of the workforce would be affected. As things stand today, however, the new telecoms giant is now cutting just under one-fifth of all full-time positions in the Swiss market.
The fact that the job cuts turned out to be smaller than expected only emerged in the course of the consultation process, said a media spokesman in response to a question from the AWP news agency. However, no details of the evaluation process are published.
Management and back-office functions were particularly affected by the cuts. In sales and customer service, however, the number of redundancies is proportionally lower than the average. The spokesperson cites the higher average fluctuation in this area as the reason. However, due to duplications at practically identical locations, closures or mergers of branches as well as individual layoffs cannot be ruled out.
The social plan now presented for the employees affected was drawn up jointly with the union and both employee representatives. Among other things, it includes a fund of 2.5 million Swiss francs for individual bridging measures, for example in cases of hardship.
Swallowed for 6.8 billion
UPC owner Liberty Global had completed the acquisition of Sunrise in November (Werbewoche.ch reported). At the time, Switzerland's second-largest telecommunications group was valued at an enterprise value of CHF 6.8 billion. The new company wants to challenge the top dog Swisscom. (SDA)
