Spain: Holcim, one of the first large businesses in Spain to provide a true outplacement program to its outgoing employees

In Spain, the building sector has been particularly hard hit by the current economic crisis and certainly the Spanish subsidiary of the multinational Holcim, whose core business includes manufacturing and distributing building materials, is no exception. A reference employer in the country, Holcim has set up an outplacement program as part of a mass layoff affecting 295 people. With the 2012 labor reform, companies with 50+ employees are obliged to offer to discharged employees an outplacement plan for a period of at least 6 months, but in practice, Spanish businesses don’t take these systems very seriously.  (Ref.  130318)
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Badly affected by the crisis, Holcim Spain has considerably reduced its workforce in the recent past. At present, the company counts on nearly 700 employees. Before downsizing, the company has considered alternative measures, such as international mobility within the group. In fact, in the last 6 months, 20 employees have been absorbed by group subsidiaries and 50 have been relocated at local level.

To cut the remaining 295 surplus jobs, the company has reached an agreement with Lee Hecht Harris

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