French utility EDF ends hiring freeze

Electricite de France SA

19/04/2023 17:38

PARIS, April 19 (Reuters) - 
    French utility EDF  EDF.PA  is resuming recruitement, it
announced on Wednesday after it had hit the brake on new hires
earlier this month to define priorities as recent strikes have
been weighing on its strained finances.
  
        "Choices" on its hiring plan will be made soon, a group
spokesperson told Reuters.
  
    Debt-laden EDF  EDF.PA  runs Europe's largest nuclear
reactor fleet which France is planning to expand further,
creating a huge need for skilled workers over the next decades. 
    "The aim was to obtain feedback from all of the group's
divisions and this was accomplished", the spokesperson said. 
    Last week, sources told Reuters that EDF had warned
drawn-out strikes at its nuclear reactors and hydro-electricity
plants have cost it 1 billion euros in lost output and that
management had asked all divisions to see which hires could be
postponed to next year.
    An EDF spokesperson at the time declined to comment on the
strikes' financial impact on the group, which is in the process
of being fully nationalised.

    
    

 (Reporting by Benjamin Mallet, Writing by Dominique Vidalon,
editing by Tassilo Hummel)
 ((dominique.vidalon@thomsonreuters.com; +33149495432; Reuters
Messaging: dominique.vidalon.reuters.com@reuters.net))