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Bloomberg
Airbus SE is offering French employees a bonus of two months’ salary if they accept voluntary severance by the end of next month, stepping up efforts to thin its ranks with fewer forced layoffs.
The pandemic-hit planemaker is also offering to top up monthly wages by as much as 350 euros ($415) for up to a year if workers move permanently to lower-paid jobs,
according to a letter to French staffers that was seen by Bloomberg. A two-year
minimum period before employees can switch positions has also been removed, and Airbus is offering pension incentives for people who take early retirement.
The European aerospace giant, grappling with an unprecedented collapse in air travel because of the coronavirus, is trying to entice workers to leave to limit tougher measures it’s unlikely to avoid altogether. The planemaker has pledged to slash 15,000 jobs across its operations, with France braced to absorb about one-third of those.
Airbus will provide an update on the exit package at its next works council on September 24 and should close discussions with unions October 15, according to the letter. Nearly 2,000 staff members have already expressed a serious interest in voluntary departure, Donald Fraty, the head of human resources for France, said in the letter.