“Despite and sadness for the affected families”for Gilles Martin, central union delegate of the CFDT of Auchan France. “Disgust, anger, surprise at the magnitude of the announcements,” for Franck Martinaud, Force Ouvrière delegate of Auchan Retail France, who expected staff reductions, “but not to that point”. Staff representatives were surprised on Tuesday, November 5, when the management of the fifth largest French retailer announced the outline of the largest social plan in its history. Closing of stores and warehouses, reorganization of hypermarkets, merger of support services… The new strategic plan to become profitable again for Auchan, which employs 54,000 people in France, will involve the elimination of 2,389 positions. These are 1,751 net reductions, including the creation of 638 positions.
“It was written a little in advance”a competing distributor jokes about the northern group’s weak points: “A hypermarket model in decline, a source of high costs and an important place in Russia, an extremely profitable market. » This balance had allowed for years to absorb the losses of activity in France. But with the sale of its activities in Russia underway, it became urgent for the Mulliez family’s food brand to address the recovery of its activities in France, so as not to suffer the same fate as its competitor Casino. Because Auchan, present in 12 countries, has continued to lose market share in France, going from 11.3% to 9.1% (including the Casino stores acquired) in ten years, when E.Leclerc climbed from 19.9% to 24.1%.
Year after year, the accounts fell further and further into the red. In the first half, the drop in turnover reached 4.7% in France (after a decline of 2.7% in 2023) and 3.3% for the group as a whole (excluding countries at war). At the end of July, the company justified these figures due to competition “best positioned in price and formats” and for a “disconsumption phenomenon” which affects more “Hypermarkets (–5.2%), more exposed to non-food products” that “supermarkets (– 1.6%)”. Results that meant a loss of almost one billion euros for its parent company ELO. “For fifteen years, Auchan has only made bad decisionssummarizes Christophe Foucaut, CGT union delegate at the Englos hypermarket (North). We have had 20 directors in twenty-two years, who did not even have time to deploy their strategy. Each time we wait and each time the company gets worse and worse. »
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