Michelin expects further 1800 early retirements in France

ERJ staff report (DS)

Paris -- Further to today's story that Michelin is restructuring its activities in France, affecting 1100 jobs, the company has said it expects a further 1800 employees in France to take early retirement over the next three years.

Also, the company noted that the UHP plant it intends to close at Seclin, just outside Lille uses C3M technology to make UHP tyres for OE customers including Porsche, BMW and Ferrari. That unit employs 276. These are all highly skilled workers who are familiar with the advanced C3M (Confection Monofilament Mondriale de Michelin) manufacturing process. A spokeswoman said these workers will be offered relocation packages to move to Clermont where Michelin intends to merge the C3M operations from Seclin with the C3M operations at Gravenches.

The C3M factory at Seclin was originally intended to be a research unit, but has since become focussed on UHP production for OE customers, said the spokeswoman. It now makes sense to consolidate all C3M production close to Clermont, she added.

In terms of the 1800 early retirements expected in the coming three years, the spokeswoman said the programme is open to all Michelin employees in France, but it is primarily focussed on people who are within five years of official retirement.

The programme will make way for other employees to transfer to different locations, and also will help to re-balance the age profile of Michelin's employees, she said. Michelin intends to recruit a further 500 employees each year, in addition to the posts needed to re-fill the early retirement candidates.