President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin have led efforts to force HP to rethink plans to cut 1,240 jobs in France -- a sensitive issue as the government is seeking to reduce unemployment running at close to 10 percent.
Labour Relations Minister Gerard Larcher said the head of HP's European operations, Francesco Serafini, had explained the company's position during talks on Monday afternoon.
"(Serafini) confirmed that the number of 1,240 job cuts put forward so far was not definitive and could thus be revised downwards," Larcher's ministry said in a statement after the talks.
"The minister took note of these commitments and of the assurances given as to the lasting presence of Hewlett-Packard in France," the ministry said, adding Larcher hoped for a constructive dialogue between HP management and workers.
If the job reductions are confirmed to be significantly less than announced, the news would spell a victory for the government of Villepin, who has defended a policy he calls "economic patriotism" in vowing to take a tough line against any company moves that are not in France's interest.
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CODE OF CONDUCT
Villepin said the "code of good conduct" for companies should focus on respect for the law, clarification of rules for firms receiving public aid, and better information for the authorities on companies planning major restructuring.
"We hope that everyone is assessing what each job represents, and what consequences it can imply in terms of personal drama, what difficulties for family life," Villepin said on a visit to the central city of Tours.
"This is not about introducing burdensome systems, which would constitute barriers. What we want is to be able to accompany everyone so that the general interest is being preserved."
Villepin said he was very attached to the presence of HP in France, where the firm accounted for some 5,000 jobs. He said he hoped the company's reorganisation would be negotiated with its workers, and the impact on jobs reduced as much as possible.
What's the news here?
RépondreSupprimerFinancial Times
RépondreSupprimerEUROPE
Gerard Larcher, France's employment minister, said yesterday that US and UK investors were unfairly writing off France as "an Asterix village" for its outspoken state intervention, even though it was the world's third-biggest destination for foreign investment.
After a two-hour meeting with Hewlett-Packard's European head on Monday night, Mr Larcher defended his calls for the US computer group to scale back job cuts in France, saying companies "must respect the territory in which they operate and the people they work with".
France has made tackling the unemployment rate - which has been stubbornly above 9 per cent for the past decade - its priority, and the state sprung into action over HP's plan to cut 1,240 jobs in France, a quarter of its French staff. The US group announced plans to cut 14,500 jobs worldwide in July, with 6,000 jobs affected in Europe.
Mr Larcher told the Financial Times that his meeting with Francesco Serafini, HP's senior vice-president of Europe, Middle East and Africa, had produced "concrete results".
HP promised to make future investments in France and to limit job cuts by negotiating ways to improve productivity with its staff. HP had earlier rebuffed calls to repay regional grants, arguing it had paid Euros 700m (Dollars 839m, Pounds 475m) in taxes in France but received no aid.
"I get the feeling sometimes that our friends across the English Channel and across the Atlantic think that France is somewhat like an Asterix village. That is not the case. But sometimes our way of expressing ourselves reflects our Latin feelings," said Mr Larcher.
In contrast, when IBM, the US computer group, announced a similar number of job cuts in France in July, it hardly raised an eyebrow. That is because IBM had already held lengthy consultations with the government and trades unions.
Mr Larcher said 30,000 jobs were created in France last year by investments from North American companies, in sectors such as cosmetics, autos and health. "If we were not attractive and competitive, we would not have had these results."
Foreign direct investment in France fell sharply last year to Euros 21bn, but it still ranked third among industrial countries over the 2002-2004 period, behind China and the US, according to the French agency for international investment.
The French government is planning to spend Euros 1.5bn over three years to develop 67 "poles of competitiveness" across the country, as well as a further Euros 3bn for high-technology companies from the newly created agency for innovation. These plans are intended to attract more foreign investment.
Mr Larcher said rules would be tightened to make this aid conditional on companies maintaining a certain level of jobs in the area. He also said the European Union should examine EU-wide policies for attracting foreign investment.
Moving forward
RépondreSupprimerThe world’s economic, social and environmental problems are so extensive that challenges will undoubtedly remain for the foreseeable future. HP’s objective is to continually increase our positive impact through our global citizenship work, while responding to changing needs and seeking areas where our investment is most effective. We are focused on three challenges for the coming three to five years: addressing electronic waste, raising standards in HP’s global supply chain and increasing access to information technology. These are critical issues facing our industry, and we are committed to making a positive contribution. Although we are pleased with progress to date, much remains to be done.
Please send comments to hp.globalcitizenship@hp.com
Source :
http://www.hp.com/hpinfo/globalcitizenship/gcreport/pdf/gcr_abridged_05.pdf
Bernard Meric was the champion and Mark Hurd management lay him off...
RépondreSupprimerNo, electronic industry is not environmental, non equity business and the worth aspect of the globalization.
HP's board is a mafia!
Good article, nice writing, fun ideas about french but lots of mistakes or unfair comments.
RépondreSupprimerOne example ? "two months paid vacation ... labor laws".
First, French law is 25 days + some bank holidays (probably less than in US).
2nd, Is that a problem people having 25 days of holidays or more if the YEARLY SALARY is less than people having "just" 10 days Off ?
3rd, Is your job so prehistoric that # of days are the right tool to evaluate it ?
So, I had some smiles reading this article as some remark are absolutely true but I really encourage people to step back and make their own judgement about many topics rather than just absorb them.