Multinational energy and automation company Schneider Electric has reached an agreement with European trade unions that will help workers to anticipate change and deal with the impact of globalisation.
Schneider Electric has 45,000 employees in 29 European countries. Negotiations addressed current challenges such as energy transition, digital transformation, evolving professions and increasing the number of young employees.
Key points in the deal include career development to enable staff to meet the company’s skills requirements, and boosting a learning culture by offering at least seven hours training per employee per year.
The accord foresees the creation of a European observatory for jobs and skills, designed to provide a global, shared vision of each business’s strategic priorities and challenges in terms of jobs, resources and skills. It will be monitored by a commission of trade unionists that will meet every two years to assess progress.
“With this agreement, Schneider Electric made commitments towards all its European employees to support the strengthening of their employability and the promotion of their career development,” said Luc Triangle, General Secretary of IndustriAll Europe. “We welcome the fact that by setting a floor of principles and rights at European level, this agreement paves the way for European workers to be on equal footing with one another. It now needs to be turned into reality in the workplace. Social dialogue is a key tool to implement it at local level.”