Suicide at work: France Telecom death toll rises

France Telecom

At the beginning of the month, we reported that France Telecom, France's main telecommunications company, was being investigated after it was revealed that 23 had committed suicide since the beginning of 2008.

However today, it appears that the investigation that included the French Labour Minister becoming involved has failed after a 24th employee of the firm killed themselves.

The 51-year-old father-of-two hurled himself to his death from a bridge onto a busy road in the Haute-Savoie region of the country. In a letter to his wife, he blamed the unbearable "atmosphere" at his workplace.

The company's 'atmosphere' and never-ending drive for efficiency, especially among older employees recruited when France Telecom was part of the public sector, has been blamed for playing 'emotional havoc' with staff.

It has seen a 32-year-old female employee leap to her death in Paris, whilst two days earlier a 49-year-old man in Troyes, east of Paris, plunged a knife into his own stomach during a meeting in which he had been told he was being transferred. The female worker had also been told she was being repositioned in the company, leading many to feel that the company's restructuring policies are to blame.

The company has laid off over 22,000 workers between 2006 and 2008 while staff say changing working practices and poor management have placed intolerable pressure on workers.

Earlier this month, French Labour Minister Xavier Darcos met France Telecom's CEO Didier Lombard and ordered an official to monitor France Telecom's health and safety meetings. Christine Largarde, the Finance Minister, has also reportedly told France Télécom to call board meetings ''as a matter of urgency'' saying directors must send out a "strong message to the personnel,'' that the suicide rate at the former state monopoly was ''being taken into account.''

France Telecom have been quick to deny that their methods are overly aggressive, saying that the rate of suicides is statistically not unusual for a company with a 100,000 workforce. They also stated that there hadn't been a surge in suicides and any such deaths were the result of personal, not professional, causes.

However one union official said workers at the company were being treated like "sausage meat."

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