The Management of Telefónica and the most representative unions (UGT, CC OO and Fetico-Sumados) signed this month the Expediente Employment Regulations (ERE) for the seven affiliates affected by the group which will assume a minimum salary of 4,525 workers. The final salary figure represents a reduction of 25.6% compared to the 6,088 employees planted at the start of negotiations, and represents 26.2% of the total workforce in the seven branches concerned, or 17,248 employees.
The company has estimated that the cost of adjusting work will be around 2.5 billion euros, which it will provision in the accounts for this 2025 financial year.
The weight of the adjustment will correspond to companies supported by the Linked Companies Agreement (CEV), with 3,765 minimum exits (2,925 in Telefónica de España, 720 in Móviles and 120 in Soluciones); followed by 585 global units or GBU (109 in Telefónica Global Solutions, 182 in Innovación Digital and 294 in the TSA matrix) and 175 stripped in Movistar+ television. It is worth noting that during this summer’s trip, the company reduced the number of people affected by GBUs by 14.
Departures schedule
In the case of CEV companies, the final number of undressed people is not fixed, but it depends on the number of voluntary people who register. The result of 3,765 exits is the minimum objective that the company wishes to achieve. If there are at least 3,765 volunteers, there will be no additional forced layoffs. The technique, maintained at 5,040 exits, is the maximum number of strippers allowed. Even if 6,000 volunteers showed up, the company alone would accept 5,040; and if the number of volunteers dropped to, say, 3,500 people, the company would execute 265 people forcibly stripped naked to reach the minimum of 3,765.
The departure process will be carried out in stages according to the branches: for GBUs, the voluntary application period will extend from December 29 to January 26, with the communication of acceptances and strong possibilities planned between February 12 and 16. For its part, at the CEV, the reception of applications will also begin on December 29 and end on January 29 (the closing of the acceptance communication remains to be confirmed). Finally, for the Movistar+ branch, the volunteering period will be between 7 and 6 years. With the signing of the document, a month of negotiations between the company and the unions will be completed. The process began when management officially communicated to the unions on November 17 its intention to carry out an ERA for “objective causes”, without however specifying at that time the number of victims. The official consultation period began with the constitution of the negotiation tables between November 24 and 25, 2025, where the number of exits was set at 6,088. And after four weeks of marathon negotiations – even though the conditions of the ERE and the collective agreements of all branches were negotiated at the same time – an agreement was reached. Once signed, deadlines will be opened for volunteers wishing to join the ERE to be nominated. The deadline for carrying out this collective stripping procedure will be extended, at most, until December 31, 2026.
Regarding economic conditions, compensation includes different income periods depending on the year of birth. People born between 1969 and 1971 will receive 68% of the regulatory salary until age 63 and 38% from this date; those born between 1965 and 1968, 62% up to age 63 and 34% later; for those born in 1964 or before, 52% up to age 63 and 35% later. To join voluntarily, you need 15 years of seniority in the branches of the CEV and 13 years in the GBU, with a procedure which will extend, at most, until December 31, 2026 in the latter. Furthermore, the GBUs include voluntary bonuses of between 5,000 and 18,000 euros, depending on seniority, i.e. double the amounts initially proposed. Telefónica ERE’s new agreement includes a firm commitment to create 10% jobs to balance the factory and guarantee territorial cohesion.
Very advantageous agreements
At the same time, and following the previous collective dismissal process, Telefónica reached an agreement with the union centers UGT, CC OO and Sumados-Fetico to extend the collective agreements of the seven branches linked to the ERE until 2030. The most significant advance in the area of factory work is the commitment reached by the group to increase wages by 1.5% each year while the agreement is in force, affecting both the companies CEV and the Global Units (GBU), according to details from union sources.
Thus, the subsidiaries integrated into the CEV – where the majority of Telefónica employees in Spain are grouped – will receive an additional payment of 300 euros in October, of which 150 euros will be consolidated annually in the salary scales. Despite the fact that the initial intentions of the unions in these three branches led to increases above 1.5% per year, review clauses were agreed for the next financial years: one set for December 31, 2026 and another at the end of the duration of the agreement, December 31, 2030.
Concerning GBUs, the 1.5% increase will not apply uniformly. A 1% will have a linear character for the entire factory, while the remaining 0.5% will be subject to the “discretion” of management, which will determine the beneficiaries and the allocation criteria. However, management and social representation are convinced that, if real inflation accumulated by 2027 exceeds 4%, the company would regularize salaries up to a maximum of 6%.
This methodology is recurrent among the operator and was applied during this exercise. Last year, global unit unions agreed to a 2.5% linear increase for 2025 plus a 0.5% differential for internal equity adjustments and promotions. However, workers will have two additional opportunities in 2029 and 2030 to renegotiate salary scales. If a new consensus was not reached, a linear increase of 1.5% would automatically be implemented for each of these years.
In addition to salary guarantees, Telefónica has validated a series of social benefits for the majority of its divisions. In the Spanish branches of Móviles y Soluciones, the teleworking allowance has been extended by 12 days, decoupling it from any productivity or performance measures. This face-to-face work model will gain in flexibility: both continuously and on the move, you will be able to work face-to-face in the morning and telework every afternoon, also eliminating quarterly control. Employees can thus accumulate these teleworking hours during the weeks of local festivities.
Another notable measure is that the company chaired by Murtra has extended the 36-hour week to global units, a condition that now only benefits CEV branches after being a pioneering initiative in the Spanish market. It also highlights the improvement in bank guarantees that the operator facilitates for the acquisition of ordinary housing, which vary from 75,000 to 100,000 euros, as well as aid of 3,000 euros for the tenant. A specific clause on artificial intelligence is also included to safeguard the rights of professionals.
The new stage of the CEV also includes the expansion of dental insurance coverage up to 313 euros, greater flexibility in compensation for surgical interventions or accidents, the declaration of December 24 and 31 as non-working days, the fraction of days of free service, and the increase per kilometer to 0.33 euros/km and the commitment to manage more than 100 transfers over a short distance.
Finally, for the Global Units, improvements in time flexibility were ratified, the incorporation of an additional day of own work, the recognition of the Nochebuena and Nochevieja festivities and a formal commitment to employment stability.
About The Author
