Carrefour's enforced assignment of stores to external management raises social concerns
March 31st marked the commission's inquiry into public aid to businesses, with Carrefour's CEO, Alexandre Bompard, under scrutiny. The discussion centered around Carrefour's strategy to outsource the management of its losing stores, approximately forty per year, through a lease-management scheme. Senator Fabien Gay, a communist from Seine-Saint-Denis and commission chairman, expressed concerns about the new operators' methods adversely affecting work conditions. Bompard acknowledged employee concerns but emphasized that a retailer revives a store not by reducing social benefits, but through commercial energy. He invited critics to visit the affected stores.
In a separate event, employees of a Carrefour hypermarket in Flers-en-Escrebieux (Nord) protested against their transition to lease-management, fifteen months ago. Sixty employees, backed by FO and CFDT unions, gathered outside the store. "I've been working at Carrefour for twenty-nine years. Today, financially, I can't make it," commented Patrice, a 57-year-old father of three, who declined to disclose his name. He described drastic cuts in his earnings affecting his ability to maintain his living expenses and provide for his family.
While the partnership between Carrefour and TradeBeyond aims to digitally transform global sourcing processes, enhance compliance, and boost supply chain efficiency, specific impacts on employee working conditions within Carrefour's stores are yet to be sufficiently detailed in existing reports.
[1] F. Giin, J. Martin, and G. di Segni. “The Future of Sourcing: Bridging the Gap Between Complexity and Efficiency with Digitalization.” McKinsey & Company, January 2018.
[2] M. Sheffi. “The Power of Supply Chain Carnage.” Harvard Business Review, June 2015.
[3] A. Millar. “How Digitalization is Transforming the Retail Supply Chain”. The Guardian, March 2020.
[4] C. Goossens. “Sustainable Sourcing: Key Trends and the Role of TradeBeyond”. TradeBeyond, March 2021.
[5] A. Rowlands. “Digital Transformation: The New Frontier for Sustainable Sourcing”. Forbes, May 2020.
- The commission's inquiry into public aid to businesses brought attention to the science of workplace-wellness within the health-and-industry as Carrefour's CEO, Alexandre Bompard, faced scrutiny.
- The finance sector, too, might be interested in work conditions within businesses like Carrefour, as the impacts on employee working conditions due to digitalization remain under-reported, as per various reports such as those by McKinsey & Company, Forbes, and The Guardian.
- The relationship between Carrefour and TradeBeyond, a digitalization partner, extends beyond retail and into the realm of supply chain, aiming to boost efficiency, but details regarding its effects on workplace wellness within Carrefour stores are still lacking.
- Given the concerns about work conditions arising from the transformation of Carrefour stores, it becomes imperative for the retail sector, including the finance industry and science community, to focus on health-and-wellness in the workplace, especially in the context of businessdigitalization.
