FILE PHOTO: The logo of electronics and semiconductors manufacturer STMIcroelectronics is seen outside a company building in Montrouge, near Paris, France, July 12, 2022. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier/ File Photo
ROME (Reuters) - STMicroelectronics on Monday pledged not to slash jobs in Italy, the country's industry minister said, as the chipmaker moved to defuse a row that had included strong Italian criticism of its CEO.
Minister Adolfo Urso hosted talks in Rome with representatives of the company and trade unions, aimed at avoiding mass layoffs at the Agrate plant in Northern Italy. The governments of Italy and France own a combined share of 27.5% in STMicro.
"We welcome the company's announcement to abandon redundancies at Agrate and present an industrial relaunch plan for the plant: it's a step forward and in the right direction," Urso said in a statement.
STMicroelectronics said separately it would exclude redundancies as part of a jointly agreed plan for voluntary departures.
"This choice reflects the spirit of collaboration that has guided discussions so far, but it also requires all parties to be willing to take a concrete and collective step forward," the chipmaker said in an emailed statement.
STMicro also said it sees a potential expansion of the Agrate site after 2027 in line with market developments, subject to a feasibility study, and said no structural changes were planned for other sites in Italy.
In April, STMicroelectronics said voluntary departures would cut 1,000 jobs in France out of 2,800 planned outside of attrition, while talks with Italy were ongoing.
Two months later, Italian unions said the company was planning 1,200 redundancies in Agrate, asking for an urgent meeting with the Italian government to discuss the situation.
Also in April, Italian Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said the government's attitude toward CEO Jean-Marc Chery was one of "criticism and opposition."
Rome has tried to persuade Paris to back its plan to replace Chery, sources have previously said. However, in recent weeks the parties have sought to settle their differences, one Italian source said on Monday.
(Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte in Rome, additional reporting by Nathan Vifflin in Gdansk; Editing by Alvise Armellini, Jan Harvey and Matthew Lewis)
