France Télécom: The Tip of the Iceberg
The 24th suicide at France Télécom since February 2008… Patrick Légeron, a psychiatrist and author of a report on workplace stress submitted to Xavier Bertrand in 2008, then Minister of Labor, is once again sounding the alarm.
Privatization, crisis, offshoring, layoffs, mandatory mobility, and service closures—these are all reasons why employees are losing their footing… and for some, leading to tragic consequences. While France Télécom is currently in the spotlight, it is not the only company facing scrutiny. When it comes to suicides, the list has been long since 2007: Areva, Renault, La Poste, PSA.Employees in other companies are in the same situation and are suffering greatly; they are experiencing depression, feeling useless and under immense pressure!
According to Patrick Légeron, author of the report on workplace stress submitted in March 2008 to Xavier Bertrand, then Minister of Labor, the situation is urgent:“we are facing a genuine public health and corporate management crisis. “ His report was harsh for French companies: while 22% of employees in the European Union suffered from work-related stress and depression, that figure reached 75% in France.
“Since then, no action has been taken to reintegrate psychosocial risks in the workplace”, explains the director of Stimulus. Rethinking and analyzing corporate organizational structures is an urgent priority. “We must put people back at the heart of companies, which are now far too focused on financial and economic strategies. These suicides at France Télécom are merely the visible tip of a massive iceberg”. And the problem is far from over.“France has not sufficiently accounted for the danger. Companies are waiting because, for economic reasons, they do not want to act before the problems actually arrive.
France Télécom has officially abandoned its policy of systematic mobility. Today, the company is proposing the implementation of reinforced security standards for a building in Saint-Denis (93). A building labeled “zero suicide”! Secured windows, inaccessible walkways, and blocked terraces—reminiscent, perhaps, of a prison cell…
