Altis – 1,400 in amicable severance

Over 1,400 staff at telecoms giant Altice Portugal have signed up for its voluntary redundancy program launched at the start of the months.

On 3 March, the company led by Alexandre Fonseca, announced the launch of the second phase of its ‘Programa Pessoa’ an internal initiative which aims to reduce the number of staff through early retirement and amicable redundancies.
The date limit initially set for 15 March was extended until Friday, 19 March with the company also allowing contracts to be suspended.
An official source at the company told the ECO online news source that the number of applicants for the second phase of the programme had been in line with expectations, with over 1,400 staff seeking voluntary redundancy.
The main model being pursued for early retirement for staff who are 55 or older is the payment of 80% of their basic salary and seniority payments, to which is added 40% of other salary items if relevant.
The program also allows for private health plan schemes and telecommunication package benefits.
Altice Portugal is looking to shed up to 2,000 jobs through the programme, from a total of 8,000 direct and 20,000 indirect jobs.
In the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, Chief Corporate Officer of Altice Portugal, João Zúquete da Silva explained in an email sent to workers that the need to cur these jobs was the result of an “extremely challenging context” .
The aim is to make the company more agile, efficient and adapted to meet increasingly complex and difficult realities”.