By Gilles Guillaume and Nicholas Vinocur PARIS (Reuters) - PSA Peugeot Citroen (PA:PEUP) is preparing to cut another 3,450 French jobs next year as the troubled carmaker pursues a recovery plan under new Chief Executive Carlos Tavares, two sources with knowledge of the matter said.
The cuts, to be achieved through a combination of early retirements, voluntary buyouts and internal transfers, will be presented to unions on Monday, both sources told Reuters.
Some 1,500 of the affected workers will receive early retirement, with a further 550 offered buyouts and 1,400 transferred to new positions, according to the sources.
Peugeot confirmed that a works council meeting on Monday will address staffing plans under a labor deal struck with unions last year. A company spokesman declined further comment.
The Paris-based company emerged from a prolonged European auto-market slump in need of a 3 billion euro ($3.76 billion) bailout, which saw the French state and China's Dongfeng (HK:0489) each take 14 percent stakes earlier this year.
Under the terms of its labor accord, Peugeot has committed to balance job cuts with new temporary training contracts for young workers. The company has said it plans to create 2,000 of the apprenticeships in 2015.
The 3,450 job eliminations amount to 6 percent of the 60,000-strong domestic workforce to be affected by the cuts.
Peugeot recently told workers that 29 percent of its domestic jobs were vulnerable to further cutbacks, while hard-to-fill vacancies could account for about half that number, according to CFDT union official Xavier Lelasseux.
"Ultimately that leaves about 9,000 people that I'm worried about," Lelasseux said.
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(Writing by Laurence Frost; Editing by Leigh Thomas)