The publishing house Santillana España announced this Monday its intention to proceed with a collective dismissal of “a maximum of 20%” of its staff, “made up of around 450 people, as explained to elDiario.es by several sources on the workers’ side and confirmed by the company. The company, known for its educational manuals, was sold in 2020 by Grupo Prisa to the Finnish company Samona.
The announcement of the ERE (corporate regulation file) opens the period of consultations and negotiations with workers, who must designate their representatives within a maximum period of 15 days. The company justified this measure by “productive, organizational and technical reasons.”
“Sanoma Educación SAU is facing a process of change and reorganization with the aim of guaranteeing the sustainability of its business in the long term, in the face of unfavorable market conditions that are causing a constant decline in the number of users of educational content,” company sources tell elDiario. . .est.
CCOO sources confirm the ERE’s communication, about which they will have more information once the negotiating table is open. The number of layoffs announced is significant within Santillana, but also in the sector, in which SM has also applied a collective layoff this year.
Layoff of around 90 people
“The company has informed the legal representation of the workers of its intention to open a labor regulation file (ERE) that would affect a maximum of 20% of Sanoma Educación employees. In the coming days, the negotiating table will be set up,” the company added.
The publisher has a workforce of “around 450 people” in Spain, according to the company, so the layoffs could affect around 90 workers.
Santillana has 22 work centers, according to information from its Equality Plan, registered this summer. Among the workers, there are 49% women and 51% men, the document indicates.
In addition, a large part of the staff has a long history in the company and is of advanced age. According to the Equality Plan, which at the time had a total of 540 workers, the company employs 258 people aged 50 and over.
“Santillana was born in 1960 with the distribution of manuals, literacy and professional training manuals, as well as books for children and young people,” the company explains on its website.
“The year 2021 marked a before and after in the history of Santillana with its acquisition by Sanoma, a Finnish company with an exceptional track record in the education and media sector. This change of direction not only redefined the organizational structure of the company, but also significantly influenced the people who make up Santillana,” states its Equality Plan.
