Ericsson publicizes a brand new ERE in Spain | Companies | EUROtoday

The Swedish multinational Ericsson has formally knowledgeable its employees and union organizations of its intention to provoke a brand new collective dismissal process within the Spanish subsidiary. This adjustment, which is predicted to be resolved on the finish of February 2026, is a part of the worldwide restructuring plan that the Swedish large has been present process beneath the command of its world CEO, Börje Ekholm, and the gradual lack of Spain’s strategic weight on the European board.

In the letter despatched to the employees, the administration justifies the measure by declaring that, “after an exhaustive analysis of the current situation of the company, to ensure our competitiveness in the current complex environment in which we operate and improve our efficiency, we have made the difficult and necessary decision to initiate a collective dismissal procedure at Ericsson Spain.”

This choice, which Cinco Días superior and was then denied by the corporate, has been formally communicated this Monday to the unions, and seeks to resize a construction that at present has about 2,260 workers, estimating an impression of about 300 professionals, which represents roughly 13% of its workforce within the nation.

This motion is a part of a extreme world restructuring technique. Under Ekholm’s management, Ericsson already carried out a drastic adjustment in 2023 that affected 8,500 staff world wide. Although at the moment the impression in Spain was categorized as residual, the stress to scale back world working prices – with a financial savings purpose of 800 million euros – has ended up reaching areas that had beforehand been not noted of probably the most extreme cuts. The company has simplified its world map, eliminating the previous ELA area (Europe and Latin America) and diluting the autonomy of the Spanish subsidiary. Spain, which historically led the Iberian area, has now been built-in into the Western European cluster, sharing an govt construction with France, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.

This centralization has had a direct reflection on the native management. The substitute of Diego Martínez by Juan Olivera as CEO and president of the board of administrators in Spain final September 2025 symbolizes this alteration of period. Olivera’s place has been outlined as an institutional and illustration profile earlier than the Government, whereas the true govt and business capability has develop into instantly depending on the regional administration, headed by the French director Christian Leon.

Ericsson’s historical past of changes in Spain is considerable: 5 ERE in fifteen years. Only in July 2024, the corporate closed the final adjustment course of that resulted within the departure of 321 staff. That settlement was valued by the unions because it was achieved beneath circumstances of “total voluntariness”, with compensation of as much as 45 days per 12 months and early retirement plans with revenue of 80% of the regulated wage for these over 55 years of age.

The unions complain that whereas the group applies these cuts citing world effectivity wants, the Spanish subsidiary closed the 2024 monetary 12 months solidly, reporting a revenue of 25.8 million euros (a rise of 11%) and gross sales of 538.1 million.

Spanish market

The context of the Spanish market has additionally precipitated this situation. The consolidation of the operators – with the MasOrange merger and the acquisition of Vodafone by Zegona – has lowered the variety of key purchasers and has slowed funding in 5G infrastructure. Against this background, Ericsson has acknowledged that it’s going to face this new course of “with the utmost respect for all workers and with the firm conviction that unity in these difficult times will help us overcome this stage and continue building the future of the company.”

The administration admits that it “understands the concern that this announcement entails” and is dedicated to managing the method in probably the most “transparent way possible, complying at all times with the applicable legal procedures and obligations”, whereas the unions put together for a negotiating desk that should decide whether or not the native profitability of the subsidiary justifies a brand new reduce of this magnitude.

Under the management of Börje Ekholm, the multinational has gone from a decentralized construction to excessive vertical integration. The central argument of this restructuring is the lack of strategic relevance of Spain. Historically, the Spanish subsidiary was the center of the Europe and Latin America area, performing as a technological and business bridge with the American continent. But with the departure of Telefónica – its essential consumer – from most of Latin America (Central America, Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Uruguay), world technique, the area has disappeared: the Latin American enterprise has been built-in into the Americas area (together with the US and Canada), leaving Spain orphaned of its transatlantic projection.

Now, the subsidiary has been relegated to the Western European cluster, the place it shares assets and pointers with France, Holland and Belgium. This organizational simplification explains why, even if the Spanish subsidiary closed 2024 with a revenue of 25.8 million euros and a progress of 11%, it’s being dragged down by the drop in world gross sales within the EMEA area.