- After two years with a declining number of contracts, Thales Alenia space announces an upturn for 2019 and 2020.
- Faced with an overall drop in activity in the space industry, the satellite manufacturer has launched an active job management plan.
- By next summer, 452 positions will be cut at the Cannes and Toulouse sites.
Is it, finally, the exit of a long air hole in the thermosphere? "2019 ended on the rise after two very very complicated years," says Pierre Lipsky. The director of Thales Alenia space (TAS) in Cannes - the satellite manufacturer, the largest industrial employer in the Alpes-Maritimes - can breathe and look again at the sky where the horizon seems to be clear.
After having concluded ten contracts in 2017 and nine others in 2018 (compared to twenty for a "normal" year), TAS validated 17 orders in 2019. And the manager confirms that the trend is also green for 2020.
"The machine is always oversized"
"The demand for telecommunications satellites is coming back," explains Pierre Lipsky. We were faced with an evolution in uses and a certain wait-and-see attitude. The renewal market also had to wait. The lifespan of our satellites has been longer than expected. "We are breathing but the machine is still oversized," also points out the Cannes director.
And the file of “Active management of employment”, launched last spring to reduce the payroll of TAS on its site of Bocca but also that of Toulouse, is still current. By the summer, 452 positions will be cut. “The volunteers have been identified. There are half of departures, and another of reclassifications in divisions of the Thales group ", specifies the director, evoking a" peaceful "climate.
“Dubative on the observation market”
An assessment confirmed by Eric Brunet-Manquat, secretary of the FO union of Thales Alenia space and of the central works council. He underlines “the important personal investment of the employees” before nuancing: “For the telecoms, we find a certain level of load which allows us a correct situation. On the other hand, we are much more skeptical in the observation market. "
Four “major” contracts, according to TAS, were concluded in the first category, for Indonesian, Italian, Egyptian customers and for Eutelsat. There was only one in the second: "Flex" for the study of plants and their influence on the carbon cycle.
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