More than two hundred Teleperformance employees were caught off guard by a company decision: a collective dismissal announced via videoconference. Reports indicate that 240 employees are affected.
Midday, the 240 employees of the customer support and technical service provider received an email from the company’s CEO in Portugal, Pedro Gomes, inviting them to a meeting scheduled to start in 15 minutes.
The meeting recording reveals that the decision was described as “a necessary response to the objective reality” the company is facing.
“Recent trends and future outlooks require a renewed and disciplined focus on organizational efficiency. This involves allocating our investments and resources more effectively, reducing costs, and simplifying our structure,” stated Pedro Gomes in the recording.
This collective dismissal will include teams from Lisbon, Covilhã, and Vila Nova de Gaia.
Additionally, the CEO informed the employees that their access to the company’s systems would be immediately revoked. The employees are now being contacted individually to negotiate severance terms.
Hundreds of Teleperformance employees gathered in Lisbon today, demanding higher wages and an end to bonus cuts.
“Our commitment is to conduct this process fairly, respectfully, and transparently. Within the next hour, each of you will receive an email with the time and location of your individual meeting. These meetings, beginning today [Monday] and continuing over the next three days, will outline specific conditions regarding the termination of your contract and clarify any procedural questions. According to compliance protocols and internal policies, access to company systems will be deactivated after this meeting,” said Pedro Gomes.
To CNN Portugal, the company confirmed that the 240 employees are no longer working but “will continue receiving their pay until an agreement is reached.” The deactivation of access was justified by “security concerns” since “most employees are working 100% remotely.”
The National Union of Telecommunications and Audiovisual Workers shared with SIC that the employees were informed of the decision on Friday but still felt surprised.
On its website, Teleperformance Portugal describes itself as the “epicenter of multilingual services for Europe and the world.” It states, “Our team of 14,000 employees serves clients in 37 languages across 67 markets.”
The Minister for State Reform, Gonçalo Matias, reiterated today that “there will be no layoffs” in the state reform process and no “salary cuts.”
