Apple has reportedly laid off around 120 workers from three of its retail stores in Spain.
The employees, from Puerta del Sol (Madrid), Passeig de Gràcia (Barcelona), and Valencia, have been urged to sign a “termination document” that waives the right to litigation and includes a confidentiality agreement.
The report, from El Salto [Spanish] suggests Apple has laid off more senior employees at the three affected locations with the aim of replacing them with part-time workers.
“Substantial change in working conditions”
The report describes the move as a “substantial change in working conditions”, with many of the departing staff having “between ten and twelve years of seniority”.
“There has been a maneuver to change the workforce profoundly and modify the structure of the company, which will now have fewer specialized workers and more young part-time workers, with no possibility of progress,” sources say, with Apple already hiring 40 part-time workers on 20-24 hour contracts.
The new Global Agreement on Working Conditions was signed on July 9, following an apparent analysis of “productive and organizational needs of the Company” by Apple, and trade unions Fetico and CC OO.
The decision was reportedly made with the “needs for reconciling family, personal and work life, which have evolved along with the growth and maturity of our workforce” in mind, but workers suggest that the timing of each day is determined by a quarterly schedule created by an algorithm.
Apple has offered affected staff 20 days of compensation for each year worked, and up to a maximum of nine monthly payments.