France Telecom is struggling to cope with a wave of suicide in people who have seen more than 20 workers took their lives in the past 18 months – leaving some notes blaming job stress and misery at work.
Today a technician at Troyes, southeast of Paris, stabbed himself in front of other officers during a management meeting. He had been told his job was cut. The man, in his 50s, was being treated in hospital for a stomach wound the night before and was said to be stable.
France Telecom, whose key is the Orange brand, is the third largest European mobile operator and the largest provider of broadband Internet. After what union leaders of France Telecom called “spiral” of suicides in recent years – six officers have committed suicide since mid-July – the company has promised improved medical care for workers and now enter negotiations with unions to cope with stress.
However, unions have warned that the approach to managing the entire enterprise should be reviewed and some have called a strike in Britain in the same day. Union representatives have blamed the company’s restructuring cuts, extreme pressure, intimidation and methods of the mismanagement – that is said to have deteriorated since privatization.
On 29 August, 53 years old, France Telecom technician and father of three children killed in Lannion, Brittany. Colleagues and members blamed his death on the difficulties surrounding their rank within the company and “childish” management procedures.
In early August of 28 year-old worker was found dead in his garage in Besancon, eastern France. She had left a note referring to his girlfriend, but also mentioned how he felt “powerless” and “angry” for work. The prosecutor said it was impossible to establish a formal relationship between France Telecom and suicide, but the workers staged a protest over his death.
On 14 July, another 52-year-old employee committed suicide in Marseilles, leaving behind a note blaming “overwork” and “management by terror”. He wrote: “I am committing suicide because of my work in France Telecom. That’s the only reason.”
Gojat Pierre, head of an agency to monitor trade union stress in the company, said he was “shocked by [the] last act of desperation,” after the worker stabbed himself Troyes. France Telecom issued a statement saying that the life of the worker “was not in danger” and that he had been offered another job within the same city and at the same level.
Earlier this week, the director of human resources company told Le Monde, it was “too simplistic” to say a simple cause and effect between the problems at work and deaths of staff. It said that experts had told the company that suicides were generally caused by various factors, rather than a single issue.
Twenty-nine of France Telecom staff took their lives in 2002 and 22 in 2003. The French Democratic Labor Confederation (CFDT) union said 22 officers had committed suicide by France Telecom since February 2008.
In 2007, a French prosecutor opened an inquiry into working conditions at the automaker Renault after suicides in one of its factories.