Current France Telecom CEO should resign, say political groups

Only days after a report emerged that another France Telecom employee committed suicide [1] (the twenty-fourth in the past 18 months), French political groups have started saying that France Telecom's CEO Didier Lombard should leave the company. Even Lombard's delay of his "Time to Move" plan that has FT managers changing roles every three years did little to allay the concerns of his employees or the government.

After answering questions during a Senate social affairs committee hearing, Telecom Paper reported that Socialist senator Yannick Bodin said France Telecom needs a new leader now to address employee concerns. Other Socialist and Communist deputies also asked Lombard to step down from the CEO post. However, UMP senator Jean-Pierre Raffarin came to Lombard's defense saying that "a public lynching must be avoided, but that a change in France Telecom's social strategy was necessary for it to restart on an open and reassuring social basis."

Stephane Richard, who is set to take over the France Telecom CEO reins from Lombard in 2011, said he'll not only stand by the current leader, but will also try to resolve ongoing tensions between the telco and union employees.

For more:
- Telecompaper has this article [2]

Related articles
France Telecom sees 24th employee suicide [1]
France Telecom: labor minister to discuss employee suicides [3]