Next Monday, the 17th, Telefónica invites the three main unions with the largest representation in the company (UGT, CC OO and Sumados-Fetico) to announce the intention to implement a new employment regulation file (ERE) that will affect between 5,000 and 6,000 workers. The adjustment will be voluntary and will include early retirement and incentive sick leave, sources familiar with the situation said. The company confirmed the meeting, but stressed that its agenda had not been closed.
The appointment takes place after the presentation of the Strategic Plan 2026-2030 on November 4, which, although it did not explicitly include any adjustments to employment, contemplated gradual cost savings throughout its duration, from 2,300 million for 2028 to 3,000 million in 2030. These savings also include elements linked to employees, admitted the group’s CEO, Emilio Gaio, who added that any exit plan requires an agreement with employees. Unions.
The company headed by Marc Murtra intends to close the agreement for ERE before the end of this year or at the latest in the first days of January 2026, in order to allocate expenses for the current financial year. In this way, the million-dollar cost of ERE can be allocated in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2025, so that 2026 will already be free of exceptional allocations such as those suffered by Telefónica in this fiscal year due to the sales of its subsidiaries in Latin America, which caused losses of 1,080 million euros until September.
The unions were counting on possible communications from ERE after the union elections that will take place on Wednesday, November 12 at Telefónica Soluciones.
In this context, it is worth noting that in mid-October, Telefonica and the unions closed the company’s first social framework, an agreement that would unify the rights and obligations of the workforce of the entire group in Spain, regardless of the agreement that applies to each worker.
The last ERE implemented by Telefónica led to the departure of 3,420 workers from the company, 33% less than the 5,124 separations proposed at the beginning of the negotiations, and the agreement with the unions was closed in January 2024. The modification affected workers of the three main subsidiaries (Telefónica de España, Móviles and Soluciones) and resulted in a voluntary affiliation to the ERE of 106%, for a total of 3,640 In order to apply for the 3,420 places mentioned above.
Cost and savings
The cost of the mass dismissal in 2024 amounted to about 1.3 billion euros (before taxes) for the company, which paid an average of about 380 thousand euros per worker, which is a lower number than the exit plans that the company implemented in recent years. The average savings for the company as a result of ERE is approximately 285 million euros per year.
Specifically, Marc Murtra addressed all Telefónica employees in Europe and Latin America last Friday, the 7th of this month, in an internal meeting in a hybrid format (in person and via video conference) in which he directly expressed his confidence in the new strategic plan. Transformation and growth On the team’s ability to implement it.
Accompanied by Emilio Gaio, CEO, and Laura Abasolo, CFO, Mortra thanked the professionals for their commitment at a crucial moment for the company. “We have an ambitious plan in front of us. We showed courage, and now it depends entirely on us,” he said, calling for unity and determination. The President did not mention ERE.
The president explained that the plan responds to the need to strengthen Telefónica’s future position, despite the bad reaction the market has received to it, with the price falling by 16% this week. “We are aware of what the decline we experienced means, but it was something we knew could happen. We may not like the plan, but this is what we have to do now,” he said, noting that the process involves complex decisions, but noting that other large European companies such as the Dutch KPN or British Telecom have gone through similar transformations that, despite generating initial uncertainty, later allowed them to boost their growth and enhance their competitiveness.
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