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ARCHIVED - Vodafone to close all of its stores in Spain
Distributors and franchises of the telecommunication company’s products will be unaffected by the closures
Telecommunication giant Vodafone has announced that it will be closing its 34 stores in Spain as part of the ERE (Expediente de Regulación de Trabajo) mechanism of collective dismissal that has been employed by many of the larger companies in this country since the coronavirus pandemic hit.
Following a meeting between the Vodafone’s Human Resources team and the workers’ representatives a couple of weeks ago, the company has confirmed its intention to close physical stores in Spain to focus on remote customer service and a more digitised service for customers.
The closure will affect some 509 staff across Vodafone’s 34 own stores, the majority of which are concentrated in four main cities: Barcelona (4), Madrid (6), Sevilla (2) and Valencia (2). The company now plans to concentrate its commercial activity in Spain on the 600 stores which carry its products as franchises and distributors, operations which won’t be affected by the latest ERE.
Nevertheless, unions such as the UGT have criticised the move, claiming that the staff now losing their jobs were considered essential workers at the height of the pandemic and went above and beyond to keep customers’ lines of communication open.
By means of compensation, representatives of the company have offered their staff 33 days per year worked with a limit of 24 monthly payments and early retirement from 56 years.
Vodafone Spain has defended its decision to close its stores and insisted that the current market trend in telecommunications points towards digitisation, something which the company now wants to focus its efforts on.
Large banking firms are also amongst the companies carrying out mass closures and making staff redundant in Spain, with more than 100 people gathering to protest against Banco Sabadell's unemployment scheme in Murcia last week.
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