Suez and GDF Merger To Give Life To 20,000 Jobs In 2008

French utility giant Suez has today announced it intends to create almost 20,000 new jobs over the course of 2008 as it builds up to a merger with French competitor Gaz de France over the coming years.

The move will see the first phase of a wider Suez-led recruitment drive come into action, designed to attract in ecxess of 100,000 extra employees by 2012 as part of its aggressive expansion strategy and pending merger.

The merger will see the new company, GDF Suez, form one of the largest utility companies in the world after the two agreed on initial plans to join forces in September. The largely state owned Gaz de France will see the French government acquire a substantial holding in the new parent company, equating to roughly 35% of voting rights when the two do finally join later this year.

Suez is currently a much more significant company, providing a range of utilities from electricity through to water with a workforce of roughly 150,000 employees across the world. Meanwhile its merger partner Gaz de France employees a comparatively smaller workforce of just over 50,000, with a narrower portfolio of solely gas energy.

However the move has been criticised by labour unions and certain political analysts as a mere tactic to prevent Italian led domination of the energy markets throughout Europe, rather than to benefit the existing Gaz de France workforce and its customer base.

The move has been in the pipeline for several years, only just receiving approval by both sides early last month for completion over the next few years.

With significant infrastructure in place throughout Europe and a combined 200,000 workforce already in place before including the addition 100,000 to be recruited, GDF Suez is set to become the world’s most prominent multi-utility group.

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