Nestlé Waters will lay off a quarter of its workforce in the Vosges, 171 positions cut

2023-05-16 18:22:54

Nestlé Waters will eliminate “by the end of the year” 171 positions out of the 721 current jobs, or a quarter of its workforce in Vittel in the Vosges. Management has indicated that it will limit “forced departures as much as possible”.

The social plan finds its cause in the cessation of the marketing of the Vittel brand in Germany, which led to “a significant reduction in the volumes produced” in the Vosges, argued to AFP a spokesperson for the group, assuring that Nestlé Waters had “searched for several months for solutions to minimize the impact”.

Another cause, according to her: “The company is confronted today, like the rest of the industry, with climatic conditions (…) which affect the operating conditions” of the waters of certain boreholes. At the beginning of May, due to the vagaries of the weather, Nestlé Waters had announced the sine die suspension of two of the six boreholes dedicated to Hépar water on its Vosges site. Added to the cessation of sales across the Rhine, this suspension “amplifies a little more the drop in volumes produced on the site”, she explained.

“Very bad news”, according to the mayor of Vittel

“Our priority (…) is above all” to support the employees “throughout the process” and Nestlé Waters “will do everything possible to minimize the social consequences of this project”, insisted the spokesperson. “We are going to promote social dialogue to enable us to identify and propose the best possible support solutions” and “by offering end-of-career development solutions” and “internal mobility”, he added. she indicated.

“We are aware of our major role (…) in the region. We will continue to get involved in the economic and social fabric, in collaboration with the local authorities to minimize the impact on the employment area, in particular through a revitalization program, ”she added, without being able to give details immediately.

It is in any case a blow for the city and its surroundings. Contacted by France Bleu Sud Lorraine, the mayor of Vittel, Franck Perry, evokes “very bad news”. “171 jobs means 171 families who live in the city, who consume, who send their children to school. It’s a stroke of the penknife for the attractiveness of our territories, ”he regrets.