Layoffs to cost Spanish firm $3.8 bn

MADRID: A plan to lay off 6,500 employees in 2011-13 will cost Telefonica SA 2.7 billion euros ($3.8 billion) in severance pay, the Spanish telecommunications giant said Friday.

That figure, the result of an agreement between the company and unions representing Telefonica employees, breaks down to 410,000 euros for each laid-off worker.

The company will list the expense as a non-recurring personnel charge for the current financial year, Telefonica said in a regulatory filing.

Savings from a smaller payroll will begin to materialise in the short term, allowing Telefonica to fulfill its commitments to shareholders, the statement said.

Separately, Telefonica reached an accord with Spain's labour ministry that calls for the company to contribute 350 million euros ($495.1 million) to a fund to finance re-training of older workers.

The payment is to compensate the government for the cost of paying jobless benefits to the laid-off Telefonica employees.