OTE on Tuesday revealed plans to cut 800 jobs as part of a voluntary redundancy programme that will cost the Greek incumbent €110 million in payouts, reported Reuters.
The telco, which is 40% owned by Deutsche Telekom, has struggled financially due to tough competition and austerity measures implemented by the Greek government to counter the effects of the country’s recession.
OTE’s revenue for the first quarter of 2015 fell to €940.8 million from €963.7 million a year ago, while profit fell to €39 million from €54.9 million.
Redundancies are a sensitive subject for the company.
In 2011, OTE agreed with its employee union – the Federation of OTE Employees – not to cut any jobs between the beginning of 2012 and the end of 2014. In return, OTE staff agreed to reduced pay and working hours, a move aimed at reducing OTE’s costs by €100 million per year.
In late December 2014, that deal was extended until the end of 2017 with the added condition that the basic starting salary would be increased.
It means that any redundancies at OTE have to be voluntary.
"In total, €110 million will be paid out to employees in the voluntary redundancy scheme," said OTE CEO Michael Tsamaz, in a report by Reuters on Tuesday. "The scheme was successful, it will include 800 people."
